Sometimes a Coulee Medical Center patient needs to be transferred to specialists or trauma care at a larger hospital, in a city such as Spokane or Seattle. In critical situations, air transport may be deemed medically necessary to save a life or limb. 

At that point, emergency room staff start making calls to one or both of the competing EMS programs covering the Coulee area. 

One program is called Life Flight Network - which most people informally surveyed for this story knew about - and the other is Airlift Northwest, which many did not. 

This article is a summary of these programs, including information about the cost of annual membership – though either will transport anyone in medical need, regardless of membership status. 

It will also look at the potential cost of not being a member – hello, $50,000 helicopter bill! – though in practice, both companies appear to be more flexible, both in their membership policies and through financial assistance programs.

The bottom line: If you want to make sure you're not stuck with any out-of-pocket costs in the event of an air ambulance ride, $145 gives your household an annual membership to both services. If $145 is worth the peace of mind of not having to pay a bill or navigate charity programs, that should remove any doubt. 

(NOTE: If you are on Medicaid/Apple Health, there is no out-of-pocket costs for air ambulance service, so you do not need a membership. For all other insurance providers, including Medicare, it is best to consult the insurance company directly about the patient's cost-share amount.)

Who

provides this?

Life Flight Network and Airlift Northwest are both emergency air medical transport services that cover the Coulee area. Both operate on an annual membership basis. 

Life Flight Network, owned by Oregon Health & Science University and several Portland-area medical centers, costs $85 for an annual membership. Life Flight's closest bases are in Brewster, Moses Lake, Tri-Cities and Spokane.

Airlift Northwest, owned by UW School of Medicine, costs $60 annually. Their closest bases are in Davenport and Wenatchee. 

Both have served the area for years - though the exact year either started landing at Coulee Medical Center was hard to pin down. The general consensus is that Life Flight has been in the area longer, or at least was the dominant carrier for a long time - and that Airlift started showing up more often once they opened a base at Davenport Municipal Airport in 2022.

Do they

honor each

other's

memberships?

 For a long time, they did. But that reciprocity ended in March 2020. 

Even as competitors, Life Flight Network and Airlift Northwest used to honor each other's membership programs. In other words, if someone had a membership with Life Flight, but Airlift could offer a faster response time in a moment of emergency, the patient's out-of-pocket expenses were still covered. 

Airlift Northwest stopped the practice on March 25, 2020. 

Airlift Northwest spokespeople referred questions to University of Washington School of Medicine. A spokesperson for the medical school told The Star the change came upon receiving legal advice.

"The decision to end reciprocity came after review with our Attorney General who recommended we no longer offer reciprocity to other flight programs that had similar memberships," said UW Medicine media relations director Susan Gregg, in an email.

Gregg did not offer further comment on the nature of the AG's recommendation, though she cited that the company changed its policy to allow people to sign up for membership at the time of need, without a waiting period. 

Attorney General Bob Ferguson's office maintains attorney-client privilege with public universities including UW, and declined to comment for this story. 

Life Flight, for their part, still maintains reciprocity relationships with air medical transport providers in neighboring states. 

"We welcome the opportunity to partner with Airlift NW again in the future, should they change their position," said Life Flight public relations specialist Natalie Hannah in an email to The Star.

For now, holding both memberships is the more reliable way to avoid out-of-pocket expenses. (Hot Tip: You can save money by getting a group discount through the local Chamber of Commerce. Call Nancy Boord for more info: 509.633.3074)

Can I choose what provider

to use?

 Sometimes, but not always, according to Beth Goetz, nurse manager over obstetrics, outpatient services and the emergency department at Coulee Medical Center for almost six years. 

"Obviously, it's dependent on the injury and whether we have time, or the patient has the ability to answer questions like that," Goetz said in a phone call last month. "But we will ask if they have insurance to one or the other, and that would be their preference, to go with that company if they have some available." 

Airlift NW allows for bedside sign-ups, Goetz said, "as long as you're signed up prior to them departing the helipad," but Life Flight just stopped offering just-in-time sign-ups as of this month. "The nursing staff try to make sure, if they don't have that coverage, to help them sign up. We have flyers for both companies in the ER that have the QR-codes to scan and they can do it from their cell phone. We can help them get on there." 

Though that may be an option for some patients in hospital beds, it's not possible in all situations, and certainly not at on-scene emergencies like automobile collisions–though use of helicopters in those situations is quite rare, according to Grand Coulee Ambulance Service Chief Rick Paris.

"Locally we use on-scene helicopters on an average of less than once a year," Paris said. "Most of the time we can get the patient to Coulee Medical Center to be stabilized and get doctor care sooner than a helicopter can make it."

Though the hospital does not keep records on how often either company lands there, Goetz said a higher percentage of calls go to Life Flight, since they have more bases in the area overall. 

She added that response times have decreased since Airlift's Davenport base came online.

"It's another helicopter available," she said.  

What if I'm

not a

member? 

Both providers will transport patients in medical need regardless of membership status, or insurance, and representatives from both Life Flight Network and Airlift Northwest spoke of financial assistance programs to help with a bill.

"If a patient does not have a membership and cannot afford their bill, we have a robust financial assistance program for qualifying patients and dedicated patient advocates who are available to help," said Hannah of Life Flight. The company offers assistance to people with incomes up to 600 percent of the federal poverty limit, she said. That's $90,360 for a single individual, or $187,200 for a family of four. 

Airlift offers $2 million of charity assistance per year, according to Gregg. 

ER nurse manager Goetz at CMC said she works closely with representatives from both companies "and neither of them want to stick a patient with a ginormous bill." 

That said, every situation is case by case. A couple of Coulee-area residents shared that they used an air ambulance service in the last year and, though both had memberships, their statements showed the total cost would have been $53,000 without insurance and their air medical transport membership. 

Another local resident said when he used an air ambulance in the 1980s, his out-of-pocket expenses were over $3,000, but his federal employee health insurance paid the rest. 

"We encourage anyone who lives or recreates in a rural area to have a membership," Hannah said. "You never know when it could be needed." 

To sign-up, visit http://www.lifeflight.org and http://www.uwmedicine.org/airliftnw