Air ambulances are often the only lifeline between life and death in rural America. Yet the very system patients depend on is at risk of collapse, squeezed by a Medicare reimbursement model that hasn’t kept pace with reality in more than 20 years.

Air ambulances are often the only lifeline between life and death in rural America. Yet the very system patients depend on is at risk of collapse, squeezed by a Medicare reimbursement model that hasn’t kept pace with reality in more than 20 years.