Uncollected Debt Costing Fire Dept. $1.5 Million a Year

By more aggressively pursuing those who fail to pay for ambulance and emergency medical services, the Los Angeles Fire Department can boost its revenues by up to $1.5 million annually, fire officials said Friday.

To that end, San Fernando Valley Councilwoman Laura Chick has proposed that the city spend $290,000 to hire nine additional bill collectors for an 18-month trial period.

“The city, which is facing a $260-million deficit, must take action to collect in full from those who have insurance or are capable of paying for the emergency services rendered,” Chick said. Her proposal will probably be heard by a budget committee of the council in about two weeks.

The Fire Department collects only about half of its outstanding debt, primarily because of an increasing workload and an overworked staff that doesn’t have time to follow up on each unpaid bill, said Dennis Kemper, the department’s administrative bureau commander.

Kemper conceded that the department is not so aggressive as it could be because the city wants to be sensitive to those people who are forced to use the Fire Department’s services in cases of medical emergencies.

In 1992, the Fire Department collected more than $12 million in fees, amounting to only a fraction of the department’s $230 million overall budget for that year.

To collect fees, the department sends a bill and then three follow-up notifications, Kemper said. But if the bills are ignored, the city’s collection efforts end, he said.

Most revenue is lost because bills are addressed incorrectly, or are ignored by people who don’t realize their insurance will cover the cost, Kemper said.

Over the past decade, the medical emergencies increased almost 50%, from 151,519 in fiscal year 1981-82 to 223,205 in fiscal 1992-93.

But fire officials said the actual workload for Fire Department bill collectors has increased by nearly 90% because of the added forms and information that collectors are required to provide for each incident.