VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Virginia Beach City Council on Tuesday heard about “compassionate billing” for ambulance transports as a way to bring in some sorely needed revenue while still not saddling residents with medical debt.
While the council would still have to draft the policy governing the program and stressed the need for public education, they signaled general support for the initiative.
In general, compassionate billing often involves billing Medicare, Medicaid and commercial insurance for ambulance transport services when a patient has those plans. However, people who are uninsured could submit a financial hardship waiver and ultimately not have to pay, and insured patients could have copays and deductibles waived, as well.
“The EMS system is financially strained and challenged to sustain adequate operations,” Chief Jason Stroud told council members on Wednesday. “Rescue squad expenses have increased more than 40% in the last three to four years, and volunteer fundraising efforts have not increased proportionally.”
Frank Blackley of AP Triton, which completed a feasibility study for the city, said the city could collect around $14 million in the first year. Once the program is five years old, the city could be collecting around $17 million per year, he said.
The funds would be used for medications, ambulances and equipment, volunteer recruitment and retention, and more, as long as it stays in the EMS system. It would not fully fund the system, however, and general fund support would continue to be needed.
“The scale of increase that the rescue council and the rescue squads are facing is unsustainable,” City Manager Patrick Duhaney said. “They can’t meet the cost of medical equipment and ambulances with the traditional way that they’ve been fundraising, and I don’t foresee that being able to change.”
Duhaney said if council does not change something soon, the needed revenues may have to come out of the general fund, pushing out other priorities and causing tax increases.
“This is a path to bring in revenues and possibly a path to do it in a compassionate way, but if we don’t do this, I don’t foresee the costs going down,” Duhaney said.
“I think the theme of the day is confrontation with reality,” Mayor Bobby Dyer said. “Throughout our entire budget process, we’re going to be having these discussions.”
Council could consider a resolution to move forward with compassionate billing at the Dec. 10 meeting.
