SAN CLEMENTE : City Ambulance Fee System Endangered

A longtime Fire Department ambulance subscription fee program, regarded by some as one of the “best deals in town,” is in danger of falling victim to state budget cuts approved last week.

Under the San Clemente Emergency Medical Transportation Service, a type of emergency health insurance that is becoming increasingly popular in Southern California, an annual $35 prepaid subscription fee per household guarantees emergency ambulance service as many times as needed in the year. Non-subscribers are billed up to $450 per paramedic and ambulance call in San Clemente.

In anticipation of losing up to $2 million in state funds, about 10% of the city’s annual $20-million operating budget, city officials had been analyzing a variety of cost-cutting measures, including hiring a private firm to take over ambulance services, Assistant City Manager Paul Gudgeirsson said.

Although the state budget passed last week, city officials say they haven’t yet determined how much they will have to cut, Gudgeirsson added. Already in the 1992-93 budget, the city cut about $1.9 million, including the elimination of 14 positions and the Volunteer Fire Department. Meanwhile, Fire Department officials say they hope to increase subscriptions this year and keep the city ambulance services intact.

About 1,483 residents, making up about 9% of the households in San Clemente, subscribe to the ambulance program, which was created about seven years ago to provide a low-cost alternative to residents and to help cover costs of maintaining an ambulance service, officials said. It’s only been in the last year that the program has been aggressively marketed to the public.

“It’s one of the best kept secrets in San Clemente,” Fire Department spokesman Jack L. Stubbs said. “It’s really the best deal in town. You can hardly take a taxi to Laguna Beach for $35.”

While the program historically has not made money, it has allowed the city to maintain existing paramedic and ambulance services without any cuts, officials said. The city operates two ambulances and employs six ambulance drivers and 12 paramedics.

If the city emergency log is any indication, the program has come in handy for many residents. Last year alone, about one out of every 15 households in San Clemente needed some sort of ambulance service, Stubbs said. And about 75% of the 2,000 emergency calls in San Clemente last year involved medical problems.