If You Need Emergency Care
If you have a medical emergency that's sudden, urgent and serious or life-threatening, you should go to the nearest physician, hospital emergency room, or other urgent care facility.
Care will be approved for local emergency ambulance service or air ambulance to the nearest hospital qualified to treat the condition if medically necessary and confirmed by a licensed provider. It is best for you or your doctor to call your claims administrator to arrange Air Ambulance transport as they can help identify best resources most easily.
If you go to the emergency room and are subsequently admitted to the hospital, the emergency room copay will be waived and instead you will be subject to the annual deductible and coinsurance for inpatient hospital charges.
Your coverage for emergency services will continue until your condition is stabilized and:
- Your attending physician determines that you are medically able to travel or be transported, by medical or non-emergency medical transportation, to another provider if you need more care;
- You are in a condition to be able to receive notice from and consent to the out-of-network provider delivering services for the services to be rendered; and
- In the case of a surprise bill from an out-of-network provider where you had no control of their participation in your covered services, you will pay the same cost share you would have if the covered services were received from a network provider. Contact your claims administrator immediately if you receive such a bill.
The out-of-network plan rate does not apply to involuntary services. Involuntary services are services or supplies that are performed at a network facility by certain out-of-network providers, that are not available from a network provider, or which are emergency services (e.g., pathology). Your cost share for involuntary services will be calculated in the same way as if you received the services from a network provider. If you received a surprise bill, your cost share will be calculated differently. Contact your healthcare company immediately if you receive such a bill.