VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Virginia Beach City Council Tuesday night advanced a new compassionate billing program for emergency medical services.
The program aims to cut down the financial stress on residents by billing insurance companies for ambulance services while waiving fees for patients without the means to pay and to generate new funds for Virginia Beach EMS services.
Compassionate billing is designed to ensure no resident faces overwhelming out-of-pocket costs for ambulance services.
Wednesday morning in Virginia Beach, preparations were underway to implement compassionate billing, which is expected to bring in much-needed revenue for Virginia Beach’s all-volunteer EMS unit.
The newly passed resolution gives City Manager Patrick Duhaney authorization to begin administrative planning.
Virginia Beach residents such as Felicity Smith are optimistic about the program.
“With something like that, I think that it’s another step in the right direction,” said Smith.
Other residents, like Miyasha Cunningham, believe it will benefit more people in Virginia Beach, including veterans.
“I think compassionate billing will be beneficial to people in the area. There’s a lot of veterans around here that will definitely be in need of that,” said Miyasha Cunningham.
Generally, compassionate billing bills Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance for ambulance services.
City officials estimate the initiative could generate over $14 million in its first year to support EMS operations and volunteer rescue squads.
Virginia Beach officials say preparations to implement this program will not go into effect until approved by the city council sometime next year.
They say those seeking EMS services will never be denied care due to EMS billing.
If approved, the program is expected to take six to nine months to implement.
Virginia Beach city council leaders say there’s still steps to consider, including how to govern the policy and bring about community awareness.