New ambulance and emergency services rates will be the highest in the Keys.

New ambulance and emergency services rates will be the highest in the Keys.

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

 

Key West City Commissioners have set rates for the new emergency medical services unit the city is taking over on April 1 that are the highest in the Florida Keys.

 

Commissioners on March 3 unanimously approved an ordinance setting mileage and service charges for ambulance patient treatment and transportation. The new rates are the highest in the Florida Keys and Broward County and were recommended by Edward Perez, Division Chief of EMS for the Key West Fire Department ( KWFD) and Michael Davila, Division Chief of Operations, KWFD.

 

The rate comparison was provided by the city’s new EMS billing agency, AMB, which looked at emergency services rates in Broward and Monroe counties, as well as two of AMB’s municipal EMS clients and the national average.

 

“AMB recommendations are based on an evaluation of other agencies in our area and the desire to collect fees according to our expected operational costs,” Perez and Davila wrote in a memo to City Manager Jim Scholl.

 

The new rates will charge $14.50 for each mile a patient is transported from the site of the pickup to the nearest medical facility. CARE Ambulance, which currently provides EMS services in Key West, charges $12 a mile. Basic Life Support services (BLS) will rise to $600 per patient from CARE’s current $560 rate. Advanced Life Support 1 (ALS1) will cost $750, the same as CARE’s rate, and Advanced Life Support 2 (ALS2) services will be billed at $950, also the same as CARE’s current rate.

 

However, the new rates are higher – and sometimes significantly higher – than Broward and Monroe county EMS. In Broward County, the mileage rate ranges from $8 to $10 a mile. In Monroe County, the mileage rate runs from $12 a mile charged by the county fire department to $10.90 in Marathon.

 

BLS rates in Broward and Monroe run from $355 to $724. ALS1 fees in the two counties currently run between $425 to $724 while ALS2 services range from $575 to $852.

 

“I’m real concerned about the rates,” said Key West resident and former candidate for mayor Margaret Romaro at the city commission’s March 3 meeting. “I think there is an awful lot of unanswered questions and a lot more data that has to be evaluated before you guys come up with a rate.”

 

Romaro said the new EMS unit doesn’t yet know how much Medicaid will reimburse the city for providing ambulance service to its patients or how many times an ambulance will be called but the patient refuses to be transported to a hospital. EMS can only send a bill if a patient is transported.

 

City commissioners also briefly discussed whether to charge lower rates to Key West residents. City Attorney Shawn Smith told them that the KWFD is working on a proposal for a resident waiver and that will come before them for a vote shortly.

 

But reduced resident EMS fees are not a slam dunk. EMS officials will need to determine the number of residents calling for an ambulance, plus the actual rate of collection for all EMS patients before deciding whether to charge residents less.

 

“Before anything can be done, there has to be a track record,” said Commissioner Mark Rossi. “Before we can cut anybody a break, there’s going to be a track record.”

 

“I’ve talked to a previous manager for the past ambulance company and asked him how many residents he thought were transported when they were in business. He told me that it was probably 25 percent or less of individual residents,” said Commissioner Billy Wardlow.

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