Compare Costs for Medical Air Transportation Services

The table below shows average cost ranges of air medical transportation services for a few of the providers that service areas of Minnesota, North Dakota and/or Wisconsin. Please note that non-emergent air medical transportation requires prior authorization and members typically need to work with their provider to arrange for services.

Cost Key:
Lower Cost Medium Cost
Service Description Provider Name Phone Number Service Area Cost Range
Air Transport: Plane, one way
Sanford Health 1-844-4-AIRMED North Dakota and Minnesota $9,000 - $10,000
Life Link III 612-638-4900 Twin Cities Metro, greater Minnesota and Western Wisconsin $15,000 - $17,000
Altru Health System 701-780-1551 Northeast Minnesota and Northwest North Dakota $15,000 - $17,000
Air Transport: Helicoptor, one way
Sanford Health 1-844-4-AIRMED North Dakota and Minnesota $12,000 - $15,000
North Memorial Health 800-247-0229 Twin Cities Metro, greater Minnesota and Western Wisconsin $12,000 - $15,000
Life Link III 612-638-4900 Twin Cities Metro, greater Minnesota and Western Wisconsin $23,000 - $26,000

How were costs calculated?
Twelve months of Medica Choice commercial claims data was used to calculate an average allowed amount for each contracted provider. The costs include transporation plus mileage. For a given service, a provider needed to meet certain dollar volumes to be considered in the analysis. Cost ranges were developed based on the distribution of provider average costs. Providers were then put into a low or medium cost range based on their average costs. The overall results were then reviewed and adjustments made as needed to reflect natural breaks in the pricing.