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Sevier County updates ambulance fee schedule for first time in 17 years
Summary
The commission approved Resolution 2024-10-04 to raise ambulance transport fees after a 17-year freeze. EMS director Rick Valentine said a survey of 12 regional services and adjustments to Medicare reimbursements prompted the change; commissioners approved the update unanimously (22–0, 3 absent).
Sevier County commissioners on Oct. 21 approved an updated fee schedule for ambulance transports — the county’s first such change in 17 years — citing regional comparability and shifting Medicare reimbursements.
"This fee schedule will cover all twelve services in the county going with a reasonable fee increase that would be acceptable to the people who use the services," Director of Emergency Medical Services Rick Valentine told the commission. He said county staff and Gatlinburg Fire Chief Charlie Cole worked together and engaged the county’s third‑party billing company to survey fees at 12 ambulance services within the region and across Tennessee.
Valentine said the county’s prior fees were generally below regional averages and that recent increases in Medicare’s fee schedule had reduced guaranteed revenue on federal transports of Medicare patients. The update is intended both to align Sevier County’s fees with regional norms and to help offset revenue shortfalls tied to Medicare changes.
Commissioner B. Delius moved to adopt Resolution 2024-10-04; Commissioner J. Parton seconded the motion. The roll call vote was 22 Yes, 0 No, 3 Absent.
County staff will coordinate the new schedule with the third‑party billing vendor. No specific dollar amounts for the new rates were presented in the meeting record; the resolution notes a fee increase but the transcript lists no per-transport figures.
