A simple Helo transport from roadside to hospital runs about $65,000 here. Even tho we have an Air Force Base in town, about the only time the government copters are allowed to be used anymore is if a hoist or similar gear is needed.

People go bankrupt here for a ride to the hospital.

You can get insurance from them for about $150 dollars a year for a family. When we lived far from town we got that insurance.

A friend who drives ambulance for them says the copters are sometimes used even if the medical transport is not an emergency, but may be for the doctor's timing. Kinda like c- sections I guess. He despises the Doctors that do that.

On the other hand, I once got a ride from the State Troopers chopper from the back side of a mountain search as I was the one who needed to get the "beer permit" for a SAR fund raising function as that was the last day for the paperwork to go thru. The missing person had been found and evacuated, we drew straws as to who got rides in the empty seats, but then we realized I needed to do the "beer run" if we wished to slake the thirst of a thousand sweaty cross country skiers.