Wilson visits hometown Air Evac base

by Alexandria Randolph

Highland Lakes Newspapers

Air Evac officials discussed funding and support with unopposed Texas Representative candidate Terry Wilson on Thursday morning.

Wilson, a Marble Falls resident and unopposed candidate for Texas Representative District 20, visited with the officials at Air Evac 49 base in Marble Falls Thursday morning to learn more about the company, its strengths, and its challenges.
Wilson told Air Evac Flight Paramedics and pilots that he had the upmost respect for their roles, having two parents that were nurses, as well as combat experience, in which hasty trauma care was an absolute necessity.

Wilson commended the team for their work with “the value of life.”

“There is tremendous risk associated with that, so I thank you,” he said.

Terry Thompson, Air Evac Program Director, asked Wilson for his support in the ongoing issue of funding.

“We're always trying to increase our Medicare reimbursement,” said Michael Johnson, Government Affairs Consultant for Air Evac.

Johnson said currently, Air Evac draws their state funding in such a way that it doesn't negative affect the monetary appropriation for other medical services such as hospitals or ground-transport EMS.

Wilson said as long as the funding was not attached to the Driver Responsibility Program, a program which added a surcharge to driver's license and insurance convictions, Air Evac would have his support.

“It's a due (people) can't get out of,” Wilson said, “and it provides millions of dollars for hospitals for trauma… Frankly, I think it just takes people and it keeps them down.”

Johnson said while a previous funding bill pushed in an earlier progressional session was associated with the program, “we totally got away from that, because at some point that's going to go away.”

Wilson agreed to look over the bill submitted in a previous session, and gave his tentative support.