Should the Haines Borough charge for ambulance service?
The borough assembly recently directed staff to investigate what other like-sized Alaska communities charge for an ambulance call in the wake of a $41,000 deficit for the service in the current fiscal year.
Member Jerry Lapp, who chairs the borough’s finance committee, said a $50 fee for an ambulance call wouldn’t be unreasonable.
“The (medical clinic) is using the ambulance as a transport service as much as anything. Maybe there should be a $50 charge for transports that could go into a fund for buying a new ambulance.”
There were 205 ambulance calls in 2009, including 68 transports for med-evacs and 40 call-outs for non-emergencies such as funerals.
Government employees have insurance that pays for ambulance calls and a $50 charge could help pay for the borough’s insurance bill for the service, Lapp said. “We’re paying big bucks for the insurance that covers that.”
Lapp discounts concerns that charging for the service would inhibit those who need an ambulance from calling. “For $100, people would call for an ambulance. It could be just a flat fee. If you have insurance, you can just pass it on.”
The borough or a third party could be responsible for billing, Lapp said.
Borough leaders have previously discussed charging for the service, which is funded by a half-percent boroughwide sales tax. Ambulance crew members have opposed a charge.
Borough fireman Al Badgley said besides discouraging calls, a fee wouldn’t raise much money. “You can contract (collection) out, but you’re not going to get a good return on that.”
Badgley said the half-percent tax pays for the service, and it’s an inequity in dispatch costs that sends the ambulance budget into the red. “You’re charging people for something they’ve already paid for.”
A free service also creates good rapport between patients and ambulance crew, Badgley said. “People are going to have bills for the hospital and everything else. This is one less worry they have to put on their plate.”
The half-percent medical service area tax will bring in about $206,000 this year, compared to ambulance service expenses of $238,000. The service area also pays into Lynn Canal Counseling and the local emergency planning committee. About $108,000 of the ambulance budget goes for dispatch costs.
Other costs are salaries for two paid firemen who serve as ambulance crew members, maintenance and fuel, training classes and vehicle storage.
The ambulance service will balance its books this year by tapping into a $150,000 surplus in the medical service area fund.