Washington City Council considers revising EMS fee charges | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

    From time to time issues come up in local government that "fly under the public's radar" until it is too late. Then when "lightning strikes" we often see individuals get upset, wondering "how can this be?" Such may very well be the case with an issue discussed and postponed at Monday night's Washington City Council meeting. That issue is that of fee charges for Emergency Medical Services (Rescue).

    In the past the City had lost considerable money, when measured by the amount of collections versus billings for EMS service. So they entered into a contract with a "consulting company" to help collect the billed charges. Often those bills are paid by a person's private health insurance and/or Medicare. Medicare, as it does with doctors and hospitals, sets a schedule for what it will pay. The individual is responsible for paying the balance if they don't have insurance to cover the charge.

    The issue becomes: What should the charges be?

    The company submitted a recommended change in the amount the City will bill people for EMS services and that is what was on the agenda Monday night. You can review the fee schedules by clicking here. Go to Page 146.

    Councilman Doug Mercer raised a concern about charging people more than Medicare will pay when often they can't afford to pay the fees.

    After some discussion the Council postponed the issue until it can gather additional information.

    You can review the recommendation, which includes the current fee schedule, how much Medicare will pay and the difference that will be billed to the person receiving the services.

    The issue before the council, presumably at the next meeting, will be how much residents will be expected to pay.

    It should be noted that EMS is not a self-supporting operating. Local governments appropriate tax funds for the operation of EMS services. In FY 2013 the City of Washington budgeted $719,151 for the operating of the EMS Department. The budget shows revenue for Rescue Charges of $522,413 with the County paying the City $132,072 for services rendered outside the municipality. So the question becomes: Who should make up the difference between what insurance and Medicare will pay and what the charges are.

    You can hear the discussion in the video clip below: