Plaistow fire chief: town-run ambulance service beginning to meet revenue expectations as collections rise

Plaistow Fire Chief Chris Knutsen told the Budget Committee on Tuesday that the town'run ambulance program, which began operations on March 1, is seeing rising collections and is approaching the monthly revenue needed to meet the service's budget projection. "We actually started March 1st," Knutsen said, and "we've made a tremendous impact to the community already."

The committee pressed Knutsen on how billed charges translate into cash. Knutsen described industry terms for the hearing: the "billed amount" is what the town charges; the "adjusted" amount reflects insurer fee schedules (largely Medicare and Medicaid) and cannot be collected; amounts more than 90 days past due are considered "delinquent" and may eventually be purged. "Anything over 90 days would be considered delinquent," he said.

Why it matters: the town used a projected annual revenue figure of about $400,000 when weighing the change from a contracted provider to an in-house…