Northlake terminated its emergency transport membership with CareFlite and instead has entered into a contract with MASA that will take effect Feb. 1 in an effort to reduce utility customers’ ambulance costs.
According to the town, MASA’s coverage includes emergency ground and air ambulance transport from anywhere to a hospital and ground and air ambulance transport from hospital to hospital. It is available to all Northlake utility customers, not just residents.
Town Manager Drew Corn described MASA’s coverage as “much more robust” than CareFlite’s.
“This isn’t just something you can use in this area, but it can be used nationally, if something happens,” he said.
Northlake ended its membership with CareFlight at the Dec. 11, 2025 Town Council meeting because Northlake recently became outside of CareFlite’s area of coverage.
Will Winters represented MASA at the Jan. 8 Town Council meeting to explain how MASA can help get residents coverage when ambulance costs are at an all-time high.
He said about 25% of people refuse ambulance transport because of the cost. The MASA plan covers up to $750 for ground transport and up to $7,500 for air transport.
“With something like MASA in place, it helps really take that sting out of the bill so they can have that confidence,” said Winters. “We want people to have freedom to access that care when they need it.”
If that doesn’t cover the entire bill, it aims to make transport affordable.
Winters said customers just have to do to file a claim is submit a receipt and MASA will work with the provider to get costs covered.
According to Winters, MASA looks at most claims as emergencies and tries to do everything it can to get claims paid out.
Claims are often denied if they are not covered or if they are submitted more than six months after the bill was sent.
“We look for reasons to pay the claim,” he said. “Even when it’s denied by the medical plan, it doesn’t mean we’re always going to deny it. In most cases, we do pay.”
The plan will become effective on Feb. 1 and all Northlake utility customers will automatically be enrolled in the plan with a monthly fee of $6.75 per resident. The charge will show up on customers’ utility bill.
According to the town, the previous CareFlite membership was going to increase to $2 per month per resident.
Mayor Brian Montini said it was important for all customers to be automatically enrolled for MASA in order to get the low rate. But, the town made sure the opt-out process was easy.
Anyone already with MASA, on Medicaid or anyone who does not want to be enrolled in the program must opt out by Feb. 15.
Opt out can be done by contacting the town at 940-648-3290 or visiting the MASA page on the town’s website.
Winters said customers can also opt back in and reenroll into MASA’s coverage.
For more information, visit MASA’s website or the Town of Northlake’s MASA page.
