Proposal for countywide billing of ambulance service on table
The Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors could vote on countywide billing for ambulance service from rescue squads as early as next month.
The board’s Fire & Rescue Police & Procedures Committee will make the recommendation during its Dec. 7 meeting that the board approve billing patients for medical transport starting in 2010, said Callands-Gretna Supervisor Fred Ingram, the committee’s chairman.
Supervisors will hold their regular meeting at 7 p.m. Dec. 7, just two hours after the committee’s meeting begins. Ingram said the board will vote on it that night.
At a glance
• Pittsylvania County has 14 rescue providers, including the squads in Altavista and Danville. The county also pays Regional One — which bills patients — $70,000 per year to provide backup service. The other providers are Gretna, Chatham, 640 and Cool Branch rescue squads and Ringgold, Tunstall, Mount Cross, Mount Hermon, Blairs, Callands, Laurel Grove and Brosville fire and rescues.
• Chatham and Gretna currently bill on their own.
Chatham-Blairs Supervisor Hank Davis, who’s on the board’s Fire/Rescue Advisory Board, said the change would level the field for patients in Pittsylvania County where some pay for their trips to the emergency room and others don’t. Most of the county’s ambulance-service providers give free transport for patients, while others, such as Chatham’s rescue squad, bill for services.
“It needs to be all one way or all the other way,” Davis said Saturday. The county has been working to establish a fee-for service system for eight years, said Davis, who has pursued the change for six.
The ordinance would establish a countywide billing system for ambulance service and a back-up service, Ingram said.
Revenues from billing would go into an enterprise fund in the county treasury. The money would pay for the backup emergency service and equipment for rescue squads.
Ingram said the change would reduce the patient’s cost for transport. The typical charge for billed service is about $900 while the proposed system would cut the cost by as much as half, Ingram said. Patients and/or their insurance providers, including private insurers, Medicare and Medicaid, would be billed.
The system would be self-generating and would not impact the county’s budget, Ingram said.
Kenny Hudson, chief of Tunstall Fire & Rescue, said he supports the ordinance and that representatives from the county’s rescue agencies will meet Tuesday to discuss the proposal. Hudson said some rescue squads in the county are unsure about the idea, whether it will make money and how it will affect donations to rescue agencies.
“We’re going to have to see how things go and see how the public feels about it,” said Hudson, who’s also vice president of the Pittsylvania County Fire & Rescue Association.
Some of the squads may not participate, Ingram said. Chatham and Gretna already bill on their own, Ingram said.
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Reader Reactions
I have always donated generously to both the Gretna and Altavista rescue squads, until I needed emergency transport last year to LGH. Altavista came in and picked me up, and transported me the @36 miles to the ER in Lynchburg. They administered no medications or support, other than the ride. The bill was for $1000. That ended my donations.
I want to know if Chatham and Gretna are already billing. How come Regional One is still answering 99% of their calls? The problem with this is the northern end of the county. the Southern end of the county is answering their calls and doing a good job at it.
Longtime you have very real concerns.Billing will dry up your donations. A county run backup system will eat up any profits the billing makes. The $70,000 the county now pays is a steal compared to what a county run system will cost. As for the county buying trucks and buildings. That will not happen they will use the squads equipment or cut off your funding if you do not play ball. This will crush volunteer services not only in the North end but Tunstall, Ringold, and all the others. If Ken Hudson thinks different he is a fool, a well meaning fool but still a fool. Trust me I run as an ALS provider in Campbell County. I have seen what it has done there. In just a few short years volunteers are rapidly going away there.
does this mean i can ask to go to a non-local hospital?
Many of us live in areas which have always been fortunate enough to be supported by volunteer fire & rescue. Annual contributions, brunswick stews, truck raffles, etc., etc. have all been used to help fund these organizations. If we are now moving to what appears to be a pay-as-you-go system, I can certainly understand why some folks might not be so enthusiastic about shelling out donations. I will; but, only because I love brunswick stew and I like to take a chance on winning a truck, and, like most, I genuinely appreciate the efforts and dedication of our volunteer crews.
But, the point is, if we are going to have to pay a fee for this service, that may very well put a chill on donations and that can’t be very helpful. Why? Because the less the donations, the more expensive the service will become. I’m not so sure the county supervisors have thought this through.
I am interested in how the “backup service” will be established by the county. Currently Regional One handles those duties at a price of $ 70,000 per year. If the county forms their own group what will the cost be? They have to purchase trucks, build buildings and hire employees. The backup service would be great for those areas who do not cover their EMS calls, but why penalize the areas who are currently covering 98-100% of their EMS calls. Will be the profits be fairly distributed?
The other area that will be impacted will be the public donations to the county EMS agencies. If my insurance company pays a $ 500 EMS transport bill I would consider that my donation for the year. Goodbye donation letters, raffles, stews and other fund raisers.
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