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Resident urges Ventnor to reconsider ambulance billing after public-safety fairness concerns
Summary
During public comment, resident Ghenten Kreischer urged the city to stop billing residents for ambulance transport or to limit bills to insurers, citing fairness and the risk that bills deter people from seeking emergency care; commissioners agreed to review current billing and collection practices.
During the public-comment portion of the March 13 meeting, resident Ghenten Kreischer raised concerns about the city's ambulance-billing practice and asked whether bills are sent only to insurers or also to residents. Kreischer argued that sending bills to residents can be unfair and might deter people on fixed incomes from calling for emergency assistance.
"I think the city should really look into not sending bills for that and avoiding these possible scenarios," Kreischer said, citing both fairness and public-safety risks. He referenced $376,000 in ambulance fees collected by the city and asked whether the municipality could accept insurer payments and write off remaining balances rather than pursuing residents.
Commissioners and staff responded that the city currently bills insurance and may send secondary bills to patients; they said the service uses detailed coding for supplies and services and that Medicare typically sets the fee. Staff also said the municipality is not aggressive in pursuing unpaid resident balances and that unpaid bills are often written off after billing attempts. Commissioners agreed it was worth reviewing the policy and asked staff to examine whether bills must be sent to every patient or whether the city can limit billing to insurers.
