NEWPORT BEACH : Paramedic User Fee to Take Effect July 1

When residents dial 911, the city’s two paramedic units will still respond swiftly with emergency medical attention. But starting this summer, they will leave behind a bill for their services: $150 for basic medical treatment and $250 for responding to life-threatening situations.

A paramedics user fee ordinance, which has been on the books for 17 years but never activated, is going into effect July 1 to raise an estimated $800,000 in annual revenue for the cash-strapped city, said Fire Chief Timothy D. Riley, whose department manages the Emergency Medical Services program.

“The City Council encouraged us to look at this as a revenue mechanism,” Riley said. “The ultimate goal is to offset the costs of (emergency medical) services.”

The new user fees will help city officials close a projected $6-million shortfall in the 1993-94 fiscal budget.

The city “has to look further at reducing costs of services to the community,” City Manager Kevin J. Murphy told the council. “This is already in use in other Orange County cities.”

Without such fees, the city would have to trim its emergency response capabilities, the council was told Monday night. There was no public protest of the vote.

Riley reported to council members that 70% of the Fire Department’s emergency activity is for paramedics. He said that about half of the emergency calls come from non-residents who get injured while visiting Newport Beach.

At any one time, there are two units staffed by five paramedics who double as firefighters.

Riley said the city will offer an alternative to paying a fee per call. Residents can pay an annual $42 paramedic subscription fee covering an entire household for costs of emergency medical response. The annual fee for local businesses will be based on the number of employees covered, with a maximum of $210.

Not all insurance companies pay for the paramedic response, he said, and the user fees do not cover ambulance transportation to a hospital.