CHIMACUM — Ambulance rates in the East Jefferson Fire Rescue district are going up for the first time in more than 10 years following a decision by the district’s board of commissioners.
In a unanimous vote Wednesday, commissioners voted to increase the rates which hadn’t been raised since 2012.
Chief Bret Black said in a later interview that the changes were bringing the district’s rates in line with what had previously been charged in Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue, which merged with EJFR following a vote last year.
“The fee structure will be what (Port Ludlow residents) were paying before,” Black said. “All of these items is also to align it with what Medicare will pay. We haven’t been charging what Medicare will pay.”
According to meeting documents, most of the rates for various ambulance transport services will be raised by $100, with the exception of specialty care transport, which was increased by $200. The district also updated the mileage fee from $15 per mile to $18.
Under the new rate schedule, non-emergency basic life support services are $600; basic life support, $700. Emergent and non-emergent advanced life support Levels 1 and 2 are $800, and advanced life support services Level 2 is $1,000.
According to the Washington Administrative Code, non-emergency basic life services means transportation by ground ambulance vehicle and the provision of medically necessary supplies and services; emergency BLS means the same service provided in an emergency setting.
Advanced life support Level 1 means the transportation by ground ambulance vehicle and the provision of medically necessary supplies and services including the provision of an assessment or at least one intervention by an ALS-trained person.
Level 2 ALS services are transportation by ground ambulance vehicle and the provision of medically necessary supplies and services including at least three separate administrations of one or more medications by intravenous push/bolus or by continuous infusion and at least one of several emergency procedures such as chest decompression or defibrillation.
Specialty care transport is inter-facility (hospital to hospital or hospital to skilled nursing facility) transportation of a critically injured or ill client by a ground ambulance vehicle under the command of ALS-trained personnel with additional training above the level of a paramedic.
How much a patient actually pays for ambulance transport depends on that person’s individual health insurance.
Black said the fees help pay for the operation and maintenance of the ambulances and ambulance responders.
According to Systems Design, the billing consultant hired by the district, the new fee schedule will provide EJFR with an additional $32,000 annually.
The district has a policy that states no one will be denied service because of an inability to pay.
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Reporter Peter Segall can be reached at peter.segall@peninsuladailynews.com.
