Paramedic Fees: Wrong Idea

Most fire departments in Orange County provide paramedics as part of the basic emergency service furnished by local government and supported by all city taxpayers. That’s the way it should be. And that’s the way the Anaheim City Council should leave it Tuesday, when it considers levying individual charges for emergency medical care.

Anaheim, in fact, at one time levied a paramedic fee but realized its mistake and rescinded the charge. It shouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

The City Council is tempted to do so because it needs money, and because it thinks too many of the paramedics’ calls turn out to be so-called “Band-Aid” responses to minor medical needs, rather than real emergencies.

But many calls for police help do not involve major crimes, and not all fires are four-alarmers. The council is not charging for those. Nor does it make the caller pay every time a firefighter races into a burning building. When it comes to emergency services, the emphasis must be on protecting people--not raising more revenue.

The proposal being voted on Tuesday calls for a $24-a-year subscription fee for the paramedic service. Non-subscribers and visitors would be charged a fee between $75 and $125 a call. The trouble with those charges is that they work against the elderly and the poor, the ones least able to afford them. The city has recognized that reality by proposing a reduced rate for people in those categories.

That’s a step in the right direction. But, better still, the council should levy no charge at all, continuing the fairest and historic approach of free emergency medical aid as part of the basic protection the city provides all its residents.