Wednesday, May 10, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
FEES: Ambulance
service mostly covered
by insurance
Continued from page 3
middle of the pack.
While the contemplated
increase is a big jump, Chief
Johnson told The Nugget
that the proposed rates still
fall well below the cost of
operation.
“I’m very confident that
we’re well below our costs
— and even with the new
rates,” he said.
In fact, he said, the new fee
level wouldn’t cover the staff
costs of a run, leaving aside
the costs of equipping and
maintaining the ambulances.
The vast majority of
patients transported are cov-
ered for the run by health
insurance — the majority
by Medicare or Medicaid.
However, Medicare and
Medicaid only reimburse a
portion of the billed rate.
“In the Sisters-Camp
Sherman Fire District,
roughly 61 percent of the
patients transported by
ambulance are covered by
Medicare or Medicaid,”
Johnson reported. “Medicare
reimburses a maximum of
$425 for an advanced life-
support transport while
Medicaid reimburses $421.
Estimates provided by the
District’s third-party billing
company project that if the
increase in rates is approved
the District will collect 45
cents for every dollar billed.”
Most others have ambu-
lance fees at least partially
covered in their health plan.
Only 4.8 percent of last year’s
transports had no health
insurance.
For those who are not
covered or only partially cov-
ered, District administrative
assistant Julie Spor notes that
the District offers a Sisters
Country FireMed ambulance
membership program that
provides family coverage for
emergency ambulance trans-
ports for $50 per year. That
plan is also available as a
package with Life Flight to
cover air ambulance transport
as well.
Spor also noted that the
fire district often bills before
the hospital, and ambulance
fees can be counted toward
an insurance deductible.
For those who simply can-
not pay an ambulance fee due
to financial hardship, or who
can only pay a little at a time,
the District provides waivers
and payment plans.
“We have systems in place
to minimize the impact on
people,” Chief Johnson said.
Worrying about the out-
of-pocket cost of a ride is the
last thing a patient and their
loved ones should be thinking
about in an emergency — but
such concerns are a reality
in a world of high healthcare
costs and big deductibles.
Chief Johnson notes that
it costs nothing for an ambu-
lance to respond to a poten-
tial emergency and assess the
Oops...
PHOTO BY BRETT MILLER BARRAGE PHOTOGRAPHY
A driver missed a turn and went through a fence and a yard,
stopping just short of an uninvited visit to someone’s garage in a
neighborhood near Sisters last weekend.
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situation.
“We’ll respond to their
home or to the scene and do
an assessment for free,” he
said.
Paramedics will advise on
whether a transport is in order
or not.
“It’s always the patient’s
choice to be transported or
not,” the Chief said.
However, it is worth not-
ing that even the full cost of
an ambulance ride, if one is
necessary, is likely to be the
smallest portion of a bill in an
emergency. Health and safety
is ultimately more critical
than dollars and cents.
The District provides
advanced life-support ambu-
lance service to roughly 800
square miles of territory sur-
rounding Sisters and eastern
portions of Lane County. The
District responded to 1,230
emergency incidents in 2016,
with more than 83 percent of
the incidents being medical
in nature. The District trans-
ported 522 patients to the
hospital in 2016 — a 24 per-
cent increase from the previ-
ous year.
“It’s an essential service
that we have to have, I think,”
Chief Johnson said.
Ambulances and the
equipment carried on them
are very expensive. A new
ambulance can cost $200,000
and a heart monitor costs over
$25,000. Chief Johnson told
The Nugget that recovering
costs through increased fees
— even if they don’t cover
actual costs — will help
enable the District to continue
to maintain an appropriate
equipment replacement fund
and to maintain currency on
life-saving equipment, while
preforming all the duties and
services ambulance crews
offer to the patrons of the
district.
19
Agenda...
Sisters-Camp Sherman
Rural Fire Protection District
Board of Directors
May 16, Sisters Fire Hall
Administration Building, 5
p.m.
• Resolutions
a. Ordinance 2006-07-100
ambulance rate increase.
b. Resolution 2016-2017-
003 cell phone reimburse-
ment amendment.
• President report.
• Correspondence.
• Fire Chief report:
• Call activity and person-
nel response.
• Fire Safety Manager
report.
• Fire Corps minutes.
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