The case of the $489,000 air ambulance ride

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/03/25/ [login to see] /the-case-of-the-489-000-air-ambulance-ride
Sean Deines and his wife, Rebekah, were road-tripping after he lost his job as a bartender when the pandemic hit. But while visiting his grandfather in a remote part of Wyoming, Sean started to feel very ill.

Rebekah insisted he go to an urgent care center in Laramie.

"Your white blood count is through the roof. You need to get to an ER right now," Deines, 32, recalls a staffer saying. The North Carolina couple initially drove to a hospital in Casper but were quickly airlifted to the University of Colorado Hospital near Denver, where he was admitted on Nov. 28, 2020.

There, specialists confirmed his diagnosis: acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a fast-growing blood cancer.

"Literally within 12 hours, I needed to figure out what to do with the next step of my life," said Deines.

So, after he was started on intravenous treatments, including steroids and antibiotics, to stabilize him, the couple decided it was prudent to return to North Carolina, where they could get help from his mother and mother-in-law. They selected Duke University Medical Center in Durham, which was in his insurance network.