‘Revenue Recovery’—

Ambulance Corps Poised To Charge For Some Service

By Andrew Gorosko

To achieve financial health, Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps will begin charging at some point this year for the patient transport services that it provides.

The group “will initiate a ‘revenue recovery’ program for its emergency medical services…to provide continued excellent pre-hospital care to all citizens of the town of Newtown” said Tricia Johnson, president of Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Association.

The association is the financial management component of the local ambulance service.

Ms Johnson said on February 14 that it is unclear when in 2007 the charges will start, noting that the local ambulance service is awaiting details on the revenue program from state health care officials, including the applicable fee schedule for ambulance services. That fee schedule would apply to all calls involving patient transport.

Ambulance bills would be sent to the insurance companies that provide coverage to the people receiving ambulance service.

Such an arrangement would “allow the ambulance service to be more effective in providing for the emergency medical needs of the community, through such initiatives as an in-town paramedic, state-of-the-art equipment such as [Global Positioning System]-equipped ambulances and communication devices, and to help defray increased costs and operational expense deficits,” Ms Johnson said.

The ambulance service will remain a volunteer-based organization. “The [corps] is proud of its volunteers, their spirit, their pride, and their contribution to the community,” she said.

 Ms Johnson said that the large majority of people who receive ambulance services in Newtown are covered by some form of medical insurance, either through health coverage or through their automobile insurance coverage.

If a person is uninsured for ambulance service, they would be directed to call a toll-free telephone number listed on their invoice to make payment arrangements.

Other volunteer ambulance groups in the state have implemented such “revenue recovery” systems, Ms Johnson said, noting that the local ambulance group is one of the last such organizations in the state to implement such fees.

 Although the financial capabilities of the local ambulance service have been historically strong based on donations and investment income, about eight years ago, costs and ambulance call volumes started to climb and investment income “softened,” resulting in financial deficits, Ms Johnson said.

The money generated through the new payment system “will fund the increased costs of operations, the newly enhanced service of the Newtown paramedic program [which provides] advanced life support response, as well as future training, equipment and capital needs of the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance,” Ms Johnson said.

Noting that the ambulance association has been operating at a financial deficit for the past several years, the group will continue to need donations to fund its education, training and community programs, she said.

The town government has covered a majority of the funding for the new in-town paramedic program, as well some of the costs for a new ambulance, she said. Formerly, the town contributed toward the cost of a paramedic service that covered Newtown, as well as Bethel and Redding. “The Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Association has acquired the services of Certified Ambulance to be the ‘revenue recovery’ agent,” Ms Johnson said.

“We’re not trying to put an unreasonable burden on anyone who needs the ambulance … We’re seeking to recover the money that has already been paid to the insurance carriers, via insurance premiums, for this necessary service and bring financial health to our operational expenses,” she said.

Ambulance staffers will collect pertinent insurance information for patients who are transported, after which invoices would be sent to their insurance companies.

Dr David Charash, association vice president, said, in part, “This direction is necessary to maintain continued emergency medical services in a timely and professional manner.”

First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal said that he endorses the ambulance service’s pending new revenue system, especially in view of the recent creation of the in-town paramedic position, which enhances local emergency medical care. A large majority of the people receiving ambulance services would have medical insurance coverage for ambulance transport, he said.