Debt Crisis Leaves Puerto Rico Without Air Ambulance Service

Puerto Rico’s only medical helicopter company Aeromed announced that it will withdraw it’s services from the country due to the country’s billion dollar debt, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

RELATED: Honor Among Thieves? Puerto Rico Debt Faces Debate by US House

Following extensive contract negations with the Puerto Rican government, health officials last week rejected a deal to issue a minimum payment of US$4.4 million, prompting Aeromed’s decision to suspend it’s services.

“We recognize the fiscal situation of the government. We have been sensitive and flexible for several years … but there is no way we can continue to offer our services with inconsistent payments and fees that are unsustainable,” Aeromed Director Jose Hernandez told local media outlets.

A growing number of medical companies in Puerto Rico are suspending services because of mounting government debt.

Making matters worse, Puerto Rico receives less federal funding for healthcare than the other 50 states and the District of Columbia even though it pays its share of social security and Medicare taxes.

WATCH: Puerto Rico Avoids 11th Hour Debt Payment Default

In response to Tuesday’s decision, Puerto Rico’s Health Minister Ana Rius said that her country would expand it’s ambulances services by land.

RELATED:
7 Key Points to Understanding Puerto Rico's Debt Crisis

"It is extremely important that we restart this service," she said, adding that officials are still negotiating with Aeromed and other similar companies. "Puerto Rico is going through an economic crisis like no other. As health secretary, my focus is on protecting the health of all Puerto Ricans."

Puerto Rico owes about US$70 billion to its creditors, and Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla has said the government cannot pay all of its debt.

“Without intervention, it has been estimated that Puerto Rico’s healthcare system will suffer the immediate loss of half a billion dollars, hospitals will lose US$150 million, doctors will lose US$115 million, pharmaceutical companies will lose US$65 million, and the island’s Medicaid program will lose US$400 to US$800 million,” a 2015 report by the Annals of the American Thoracic Society Public concluded.