$474K Bill Follows MA Stroke Victim's Medical Flight

A Massachusetts woman who was flown from a hospital in Kansas to Massachusetts General Hospital after she suffered a stroke was on the receiving end of a nearly half-million dollar bill. Kristina Cunningham's medical flight in June resulted in a charge of $474,725, according to WBUR.

Cunningham, from Berlin, a small town in Worcester County, was diagnosed with a rare blood vessel disease of the brain. The 34-year-old mother still couldn't use her right arm or speak well when she was flown from a hospital in Wichita, Kansas, to MGH via an Angel MedFlight Learjet. She was in Kansas for a family wedding.

In August, she got the bill - only $14,304.55 of which was initially covered by her insurer, CareFirst. An Angel Medflight executive told WBUR it will negotiate with her insurer and not demand payment from Cunningham. CareFirst told WBUR it would propose to up its share of the payment to about $70,000.

>>>Read the full WBUR story here.

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