County reports improved ambulance collections but notes contractual write-offs

County finance staff (Speaker 4) reported that year-to-date collections stood at about $974,000, with roughly $361,000 still outstanding for the year, and described the routine practice of accepting contractual rates from insurers and writing off the remainder rather than pursuing collections from individual patients. "That's just if you're in the Medicaid system, you're collecting from Blue Cross ... you accept that as their provider," a participant said while explaining why billed amounts are often larger than payments received.