Commission discusses ambulance-billing practice after public concern; staff says statements request insurance info, not immediate payment

A city discussion on April 10 clarified how Ventnor handles ambulance billing after former Mayor Tim Chryser and others raised concerns that bills might discourage people from calling 911.

Chief Cahill described the current process: emergency-transport charges are submitted to insurance (the billing company described in the meeting as Coronus/Corona Health); when insurance information is unavailable the billing firm requests the information from the hospital and sends a statement that asks for insurance details rather than demanding immediate payment. Officials said Medicare and Medicaid reimburse at substantially lower rates for transport (the meeting cited roughly $230 as an example payment), which leaves municipalities to recover operating costs through insurance reimbursements and, where possible, collections.

City leaders said ambulance operations are expensive — Chief Cahill cited high equipment costs and the need for ongoing EMT training — and that the billing program offsets some operating costs. They said the current policy applies equally to residents, visitors and nonresidents; charges that cannot reasonably be collected are treated as bad debt and not pursued aggressively. Staff agreed to consider a clarifying ordinance amendment to state explicitly that billing applies to "any user" if the commission wants that language added.

Chryser urged consideration of nonquantifiable harms — for example, the possibility that fear of a bill could deter ambulance use — but staff said there is no local data showing that would be the case and that policy decisions should be data-driven. The commission did not take formal action on the billing policy at the April 10 meeting; it remained a discussion item for future consideration.