42 U.S.C. § 300gg–135 — Air ambulance services

Starting with plan years that begin on or after January 1, 2022, this rule protects people covered by a group health plan or by group or individual health insurance. Say that person needs air ambulance services, and the plan covers that kind of service. Say the air ambulance company is "nonparticipating" — meaning it does not have a contract with the person's health plan. That air ambulance company cannot bill the patient, and cannot hold the patient responsible for paying, more than the normal cost-sharing amount for that service. The cost-sharing amount is worked out under the same rules that already apply to the person's plan — specific paragraphs of section 300gg–112(a) of this title, or the matching sections in the tax code and labor code, whichever set of rules covers that person's plan. In short: even if the air ambulance company is out-of-network, the patient only owes what they'd normally owe in cost-sharing. The company cannot charge the patient the rest of the bill.