Huntington Beach OKs Insurance-Like Ambulance Fee Program

In an attempt to improve emergency response time by as much as 25%, Huntington Beach has introduced a new program under which residents pay an annual fee--much like insurance--for emergency medical service.

The program, approved by a 4-3 City Council vote Monday, will offer residents yearly memberships for $36 per household. Paramedic fees and ambulance charges would be covered for those enrolled in the Fire-Med program.

For those who choose not to become members, the cost of emergency medical service will range from $100 to $150 for advanced life-support services.

City officials hope that the fees will raise about $70,000 per year to fund the administrative side of Fire-Med, a voluntary insurance program that officials hope will achieve five-minute response times in 80% of all emergency calls. Currently, only about 55% of emergency calls are answered within five minutes, according to Fire Chief Raymond C. Picard.

Picard said the plan will begin in January, with participation expected at about 30% of the city’s 76,000 households in the first year.

While Huntington Beach residents can sign up for the program, it will not be offered to non-resident guests or short-term visitors.

The new funds will upgrade the city’s existing emergency response system by adding two additional vans that will join the paramedic fleet.

Other benefits include a database that will store personal medical history for participating members and automatic notification of designated relatives or others in the event of an emergency.

Although the program is a voluntary system, Picard insists that high-quality life-support and emergency services for non-paying members of the community will still be maintained.

“Regardless of a person’s ability to pay, people will still receive the same level of service. There is no check within the system that will determine if a victim is a member or non-member,” he said.

Critics claim that the system might conflict with federal Medicare guidelines and that it fails to provide compensation to the city of Fountain Valley, which frequently supplies emergency services to households and businesses that lie within Huntington Beach but are closer to Fountain Valley fire stations.

Voting to approve the user fees were council members Don MacAllister, Grace Winchell, John Erskine and Peter M. Green. Dissenting votes were cast by Mayor Wes Bannister and council members Jim Silva and Tom Mays. Fire-Med is based on a program that was originated in Springfield, Ore., and which is now offered in the cities of Santa Ana, Orange, Fullerton, La Habra and San Clemente, Picard said.