From the New York Times
(http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/06/business/rescued-by-an-air-ambulance-but-stunned-at-the-sky-high-bill.html?_r=0)
If Medicare covers your ambulance trip, you pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount, after you’ve met the yearly Part B deductible. (https://www.medicare.gov/Pubs/pdf/11021.pdf)
$47,182 x 20% = $9,436
$36,646 x 20% = $7,329
$22,150 x 20% = $4,430
Because Medicare is covering less and less, air ambulance rates are increasing to cover that offset.
“…Air Methods’ average bill in 2014 was $40,766, compared with roughly $17,262 five years earlier. A law that deregulated the airline industry in the 1970s has prevented states from capping the amount air ambulances can charge.”
Although you might be a private payer, you will still be charged that rate.
If you have private or employer provided insurance you need read the fine print.
