The bankruptcy of helicopter operator PHI Inc. has transported the contentious issue of surprise health care bills to the steps of federal court, Bloomberg News reported. Bankruptcy Judge Harlin Dewayne Hale today will weigh objections to PHI’s plan to exit chapter 11 protection. Among them is a challenge by a group of consumers suing PHI’s air ambulance division over its billing practices. If their lawsuit is successful, the bankruptcy plan won’t work, they said in court papers. The objection highlights the mounting backlash over surprise billing — when patients are unwittingly billed huge amounts for care not covered by insurance. Surprise billing is common in emergency services scenarios like ground ambulance rides or anesthesiology — situations where consumers don’t have much ability to haggle over prices because they are injured or unconscious, for example. The issue has already reached the other branches of government. In an era of political divisiveness, a bill to curb the practice has received rare bipartisan support in Congress, while President Donald Trump this year called for an end to surprise bills.
