Porposed ordinance would raise EMS fees

A trip to the hospital in a Lexington Division of Fire and Emergency Services ambulance may soon get a lot more expensive.

The Urban County Council has proposed an ordinance, which if passed, will significantly increase emergency medical service fees.

The fee for basic life support would increase from $294 to $650. Level 1 advanced life support (ALS) would rise from $350 to $750 and level 2 from $497 to $900. The current $584 fee for specialty care would jump to $1,000 and the mileage charge would increase from $6.50 per mile to $11.00 per mile.

The fee hike would generate an additional $784,000 next year, according to budget figures.

Mayor Jim Newberry proposed the increase in his 2008 budget address.

“Most of these fees are paid by insurance providers, Medicaid or Medicare. Further, our EMS fees have been lower than those in several surrounding communities and this adjustment will bring Lexington more in line with the going rate for EMS services,” he said.

Nationally, the average cost for ambulance transportation is $415, according to a 2007 United States Government Accountability Office study.

The base rate for Kentucky Medicaid reimbursement for ALS ambulance transport is $110 and $4 per mile

Wendell Hatfield, director of Jessamine County EMS, said the county charges a fee of $375 for ALS 1 and $500 for ALS 2. He said Jessamine County manages to keep their fees low by collecting a supplemental occupational tax, but they are struggling to fund their services with fuel costs running 30 percent over budget.

“I’ve been in this business for over 25 years and I’ve never seen it this bad,” he said.

The proposed Lexington ordinance received first reading during the May 22 council meeting. Council Member Ed Lane made a motion, seconded by George Meyers, to suspend the rules and give the proposal a second reading, but the motion did not carry.

Susan Lamb, the council clerk, said she expects the ordinance to appear on the June 12 docket for its second reading.

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government faces a $35 million shortfall in 2009 at current spending levels. The EMS fee increase makes up part of a plan involving both fee increases and cuts in service to address the budget shortfall.