$23 Ambulance Fee to Offset Costs of Medical Supplies

Patients who are treated by Fire Department paramedics at an accident or injury scene and then transferred by ambulance to the hospital will have to pay a flat $23 medical supplies fee.

Previously, hospitals restocked the Fire Department’s supplies in kind and then charged the patients for the cost, said Capt. Raleigh Harris, the department’s paramedic coordinator.

But that arrangement ended in January, partly because federal rules prohibit hospitals from charging for services administered outside the hospital, Harris said.

“So we were losing a lot of money because we weren’t being reimbursed by the hospitals,” he said. Now patients will be billed $23 by Gerber Ambulance, the company that contracts with the department. In addition, the patients may incur additional charges for supplies used during the ambulance ride.

People who are treated for injuries by department paramedics but do not require ambulance services will not be charged, he said.