LAKE STEVENS – Some people will have to pay for part of their ambulance ride now that the Lake Stevens Fire District has started charging residents a co-pay when insurance or Medicare doesn’t cover the entire cost of the trip.
The district no longer can afford to subsidize the ambulance transports to area hospitals, Fire Chief Gary Faucett said.
So far this year, the district could have collected about $53,800 in additional revenue under the new policy.
“We should have been collecting those deductibles quite a while ago,” Faucett said.
“You pay taxes for us to come to your home,” he said. “The levy pays for EMS service, but ambulance transport now is paid by the user. In the past, the levy subsidized ambulance transports.”
In 2004, the district forgave about $80,000 in ambulance debt that was written off to its emergency medical services levy.
Deputy Chief Dave Lingenfelter, who is responsible for emergency medical services, said the billing change had to be made to bring in more funds.
“Even with this decision, the district will not be able to maintain a balanced budget for too much longer,” Faucett said.
District officials are working on a long-term solution, but revenues are inadequate to meet the needs of a growing district and cost-of-living demands, he said. The district’s budget is limited by law to a 1 percent a year property tax increase.
About 50 percent of those people billed for ambulance service face a co-pay.
In late July, the district’s commissioners voted to require all transported patients to be responsible for any part of the ambulance bill their insurance doesn’t cover. The policy went into effect Sept. 19.
The district has 30 full-time and 30 part-time paid firefighters who serve about 36,000 people over 46 square miles of land and water. District 8 also provides paramedics for Granite Falls and parts of Lake Roesiger, Snohomish and Getchell, and has agreements with surrounding districts, including Marysville, to provide mutual aid.
The district has a permanent EMS levy with a maximum assessment of 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed property valuation. As more people move into the district, the levy rate drops. Currently, it’s 37 cents per $1,000. The district may ask voters to restore the 50 cents per $1,000, Faucett said.
Anyone wishing to comment on the policy change may call Faucett at 425-334-3034, or e-mail gfaucett@fd8.org.
Reporter Cathy Logg: 425-339-3437 or logg@heraldnet.com.
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