The Associated Press
BISMARCK, N.D. — A federal judge has sided with a Grand Forks-based air ambulance company that filed a lawsuit to block a North Dakota law imposing more rules for operators.
Valley Med Flight argued the law passed by the Legislature last year violates a federal airline deregulation law prohibiting states from regulating air ambulance services’ “prices, routes and services.”
The state legislation says only air ambulance services that are listed with certain health care providers can qualify to be on a primary call list. It also requires that a hospital “make a reasonable effort” to inform a patient of the fees for air ambulance services.
Judge Daniel Hovland says in his ruling that while the state law may be “well-intentioned,” it is pre-empted by federal law and is “unenforceable.”