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Cabarrus commissioners authorize periodic write-off of old ambulance receivables
Summary
County officials described collection challenges for emergency medical services and approved a routine write-off clearing old ambulance receivables; staff said EMS is not profitable and collections fall sharply after the first year.
Cabarrus County officials voted 3-0 to authorize the periodic write-off of longstanding ambulance receivables as part of routine financial housekeeping.
Jimmy Linz, speaking for county EMS finance, explained that public 9-1-1 EMS is required to transport patients and that billing and collections are constrained by identifying patients and repeat transports. “Public 9-1-1 EMS is not profitable,” Linz said, adding that collections typically total about 72% overall and drop substantially after the first year.
Linz told commissioners that the write-offs are a paper-clearing exercise done every four years and do not end collection efforts. He cited a recent small recovery of $248 for an old account and said some accounts dated back decades; the precise years for individual accounts were not specified. The board voted 3-0 to authorize the finance department to write off the outstanding ambulance receivable balances.
Commissioners and staff discussed public complaints about the county’s third-party collections vendor; Linz said the vendor faced staffing challenges during COVID and that the county monitors such concerns and works with its financial analyst, Tanya Ligon, to address individual cases.
