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Bangor fire chief proposes $550 billing to care facilities for no-transport calls
Summary
Fire Chief Jeff Lowe told the Government Operations Committee that frequent non-transport responses to assisted-living and similar facilities are straining departmental resources and recommended billing the facilities a $550 base ambulance fee; the committee referred the fee change to the full City Council for consideration June 23.
Fire Chief Jeff Lowe told the Government Operations Committee on June 16 that Bangor Fire Rescue is responding to a growing number of non-transport calls at health-care and assisted-living facilities and proposed billing those facilities a $550 base ambulance fee.
"It is my opinion that that constitutes ... a call for service from us that should be compensated fairly," Lowe said, adding the city tracked roughly 275 runs last year to those facilities and was already at about 225 this year when tracking began.
Lowe told the committee the call volume imposes a substantial operational load: "If you look at 225 calls and you figure, half an hour for each call, that comes out to about ... 112 hours that we spend providing services to those facilities." He recommended applying the same base ambulance fee the city charges for a transported medical call when no transport occurs.
Councilor Ish asked whether the $550 fee would be charged to the facility rather than to residents' insurance. Lowe replied, "That is who we'll be billing is the facility," and said how the facility chooses to recoup the cost afterward was not known to the department.
Committee members pressed Lowe on enforcement and collection. One councilor asked what would happen if a facility refused to pay a series of bills. Lowe said a change to the ordinance might be required and that he would consult the city manager and legal counsel to determine options. Lowe and other committee members emphasized the proposal was intended to recover operational costs and to encourage facilities to perform onsite lifts and resident handling that contracted-care providers should be able to do.
Committee members moved and seconded the referral of the proposed fee schedule (which includes the EMS no-transport fee) to the full City Council; with no objections, the item will appear on the June 23 council agenda for further consideration.
The committee did not take a final vote to adopt the fee at the June 16 meeting; the referral sends the proposal, along with staff materials and any recommended ordinance language, to the council for action.
