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City picks up slack for residents’ ambulance bills
By Troy Brakefield, Staff Writer
Allen residents will have one less worry if they have to take a ride in one of the city’s ambulances.
The city council approved a new plan proposed by Allen Fire Chief William C. Hawley Tuesday evening to not charge citizens for what insurance companies don’t cover on bills for ambulance services.
“A resident of Allen who needs our services … will see no out-of-pocket expense beyond what their insurance would pay,” he said. He also said city residents without insurance would not receive a bill, either.
Hawley said the idea for the change in policy actually came from a billing company.
“About six months ago, we went with a different billing company, Intermedix, out of Houston,” he said. “We had been, literally, using a pen-and-paper system. Our paramedics would fill out a form. Then they would come back to our administrative staff who would plug those into data bases that went to our previous EMS (emergency medical services) billing system.”
Hawley said the previous billing services were performed by a lady at her home who had “done a great job for a number of years.”
“But Allen had grown so much, and it was time that we got into the computer age,” he said.
In deciding what course of action to take with the future of the EMS billings, Hawley said his department looked at purchasing computer equipment, but found the cost for the machines and maintenance was too high. Then they sent out a request for proposal and were contacted by the company.
“Intermedix said, ‘Look, we’ll provide you with the (computerized billing) tablets, PCs, all the software. We charge a percentage of the amount collected from patients’ bills,’” he said.
After about six months, the company contacted Hawley and informed him they noticed the city hadn’t updated their billing in the recent past. The company told him other cities, such as Southlake, had increased their ambulance rates, but had begun forgiving the remaining debt to their citizens.
“When we were doing all this work on the paper and transcribing that into a database, we were spending a lot of administrative time on that,” he said. By using a billing company, the department’s administrative team members were able to take time to see what methods other cities were using and research other policies.
Hawley said the city’s forgiveness policy only applies to Allen residents and not those traveling through the city because it is their tax dollars that fund the department.
Although the new policy takes effect immediately, Hawley said it will take time to work out a few of the logistics in the process.
“We spoke with different people in the community to get their reaction and at first they say, ‘Oh, my gosh, what a huge increase!’ But when we explain how it worked, then they were all in favor,” he said. “Probably the only person who is not happy with it is insurance companies who say, ‘Allen caught on to us.’”
To comment on this story, visit www.scntx.com Contact Troy Brakefield at tbrakefield@acnpapers.com.
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
Steve wrote on Oct 25, 2007 12:46 PM:
" That's great, except it is illegal if the ambulance service excepts medicare. That is considered a kickback and is a felony under Federal law. "
Scott Parsley wrote on Oct 25, 2007 3:01 PM:
" Steve, what law are you reciting? We use Intermedix in Keller just like Denton, DFW Airport, Grapevine, Southlake, Bedford, Euless, Richland Hills and many, many others. We haven't had any state or federal issues as a result. "
Gerry wrote on Oct 25, 2007 4:29 PM:
" Steve's comments are indeed correct. Where was the City Attorney when this grandios concocked billing scheme was hatched? Just how legal is it to make a gift of public funds, (read, tax dollars)? And the ethical nature of it all being flaunted though bilking insurance companies to off-set these gifts of public funds. I'll tell you, when my insurance rates go up so that Allen can play these games, the city will have more to worry about that just a qui tam lawsuit but also a class action law suit to boot. How arrogant and misguided. The whole bunch need to go to jail. What other schemes has the city gotten into with this kind of leadership that we know nothing about? "
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