County inks membership contract with PHI for $1 under bid law limit
After emerging from an executive session on personnel and litigation, the Newton County Board of Supervisors approved a countywide membership with PHI Air Medical to allow all residents to be transported from Newton County and all surrounding counties.
The measure passed by a vote of 4-0. Charles Godwin was absent for the vote, as he left after the executive session.
County administrator Steve Seale said the membership contract with PHI was $49,999, and it would allow county residents to be flown from Newton County and all eight counties that touch the county to anywhere in the country.
The county also met with Jason Monday, national director of sales for AirMedCare, earlier in the supervisors’ meeting and discussed their possible membership package. They would have allowed county residents to be flown from Newton, Lauderdale and Hinds counties to anywhere in the country.
Monday said the reason why they selected those counties was based on where most residents were working and doing business, but he also said they could adapt the plan to fit what the supervisors wanted.
“With the more counties that we add, the more that will drive the cost up,” Monday said. “We aided with the response in Mayfield, Ky. We have the ability to respond to major natural disasters because of our numbers with us having 37,000 employees nationwide.”
Seale said AirMedCare’s membership contract was for $49,000. Since both bids came in below $50,000, the supervisors did not have to bid the contract.
Both companies also offered county residents the chance to buy national membership upgrades. PHI offers national membership for $45 for a household to utilize their network of 65 bases nationwide.
AirMedCare also offered national membership upgrade for $45 per households, but its network has 320 locations in 38 states. Also, a household with senior citizens age 60 and over could have bought into the network for $35.
Both companies would waive out-of-pocket expenses for patients flown within the counties defined by the membership. Monday and PHI representatives Sam Mitchell, manager of business operations, in person and Jill Spalding, member representative, said they would work with insurance companies, Medicaid and Medicare to recoup the cost of flights.
Both companies said ECCC students would also potentially be covered by the membership fee, but it would depend on proving where their address of residence would be.
