The Newton County Board of Supervisors is holding off entering a membership agreement with PHI Air Medical helicopter transport until they meet with representatives from other companies to see who has the lowest and best quote.
The decision came after the board met with Sam Mitchell, manager of business operations, in person and Jill Spalding, member representative, via phone during its regular meeting Monday morning, giving the supervisors an opportunity to ask questions.
If the county agreed to pay for countywide membership, all residents of Newton County would be able to be airlifted to the hospital using PHI helicopters at no out-of-pocket expense if they were airlifted from Newton County or any of the eight surrounding counties, Spalding said.
“The origination would have to be from Newton County or Newton County residents who are flown from adjacent counties,” Spalding said. “Every Newton County resident would have membership to this program. For a small portion, a resident could upgrade to nationwide membership and could be flown by any PHI helicopter at no out of pocket cost.”
Mitchell said a resident would not be billed for any costs regardless of their insurance status or if they have Medicare or Medicaid coverage. Spalding also said that patients with Medicaid cannot be sold nationwide membership because they cannot be billed.
Mitchell also said that East Central Community College students who live on campus could also qualify for the membership as long as they can prove they are residing in Newton County.
However, county employees who live outside the county would not be members, but Spalding said they could offer membership to them at a discounted rate.
“It all depends on their address,” Mitchell said. “If they have a mailing address in the county, they would be covered. Basically, you’d have to prove that they reside in the county.”
Mitchell said the membership agreement would only apply to PHI and is not transferable to other medical helicopter transport companies. And if the county has the membership agreement, Mitchell said they would still do what is best for the patient.
“This would only be with PHI,” Mitchell said. “We don’t want to alter what is in the best interest of the patient. Another helicopter will be sent in place if we are tied up on another call and could not get there before they could.”
However, the patient might receive a bill from the other company.
Board President Jacky Johnson said they will not decide on membership until they have met with at least one other helicopter company. State bid laws apply to the contract. If all quotes are under $50,000, then they would not have to bid it out.
“If all quotes are not under $50,000, we would have to advertise it and put it up for bid,” Johnson said. “We have to meet with other companies before we can make a final decision.”
