# 911 providers: Does your agency charge people for having you come over?



## patzyboi (Jun 18, 2013)

Does your agency/county charge people for calling you?


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## DesertMedic66 (Jun 18, 2013)

Yes and no. We charge for transports. We also charge for a select criteria of AMAs.


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## chaz90 (Jun 18, 2013)

We're 100% funded through the county, and to a lesser extent, the state. No charge for transports or anything else from us, although the transporting ambulance company does charge.


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## wannabeHFD (Jun 18, 2013)

We only charge for transportation


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## Medic Tim (Jun 18, 2013)

IFTs are free to residents of the province.
911 are a flat 130 for residents and 650 for non residents.
no transport = no bill


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## MMiz (Jun 18, 2013)

No charge for just the call, it was figured into the overall business expenses. We charged for certain treatments that didnt require transport.


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## Wheel (Jun 18, 2013)

Only if we treat, as in updraft, diabetic wake up, etc.


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## patzyboi (Jun 19, 2013)

Medic Tim said:


> IFTs are free to residents of the province.
> 911 are a flat 130 for residents and 650 for non residents.
> no transport = no bill



Canada prices? Thats godly cheap


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## Medic Tim (Jun 19, 2013)

patzyboi said:


> Canada prices? Thats godly cheap



Yeah. This is on top of the extra taxes we pay.


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## STXmedic (Jun 20, 2013)

If you call us for EMS and you meet one of our definitions for a patient, we charge at least a minor fee if we don't transport ($45 I think). Of course any treatments are billed (we treat and release a ton of hypoglycemics and heroin ODs). If you didn't call us, and you didn't want us there (ie passerby calls in an mvc, family member calls for someone who wants absolutely nothing to do with us) then we don't bill. We also have ways to code runs to where the patient won't get billed for non-transports. We'll use those a lot for lift assists.


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## Mariemt (Jun 20, 2013)

We charge only for transports.

Unless we work a code which is a flat fee.


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## wannabeHFD (Jun 20, 2013)

Mariemt said:


> We charge only for transports.
> 
> Unless we work a code which is a flat fee.



Can't be worse than if they had an amputation. Those cost an arm and a leg.


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## NomadicMedic (Jun 20, 2013)

Mariemt said:


> We charge only for transports.
> 
> Unless we work a code which is a flat fee.


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## DeepFreeze (Jun 22, 2013)

From what I've heard in Massachusetts: 

BLS: $600 and up
ALS: $1000 and up

throw in a couple drugs and the price goes up. I've heard companies bill as much as $2000 for a code.

And I've yet to hear them charge for refusal.  But to be honest, people in the streets are so far removed from billing that you never hear about it.


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## CritterNurse (Jun 22, 2013)

I'm a volunteer on two departments. One is a municipal department, and the other is an all volunteer, non-profit department. Neither one charges unless we transport.


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## Handsome Robb (Jun 22, 2013)

patzyboi said:


> Does your agency/county charge people for calling you?



No.

We only charge if we transport.

Only exception is cardiac arrests that we work. They get charged transported or not. Transported is obviously more expensive but neither is cheap since it gets billed as ALS2 if I understand it correctly.

Word on the street is we might start charging for diabetic wake ups but ill believe it when I see it.


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## Handsome Robb (Jun 22, 2013)

wannabeHFD said:


> Can't be worse than if they had an amputation. Those cost an arm and a leg.



Ba dum ching!


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## ZombieEMT (Jun 22, 2013)

*Depends*

Billing and fees seems to vary by department. I work/volunteer with two different departments that bill very differently.

Department A: We call it soft billing. Insurance companies are billed for the transport and treatment of a patient. If patients have no insurance or insurance will no cover, no charge to patient and we take it as a loss. In this same department will bill $100 for a refusal/lift assist, keep in mind most insurance will not pay and we do not receive anything.

Department B: Generally all treatments and transports are billed. If you can not afford it or insurance does not cover, unfortunately it does go into collections. However by agreement with township, no patients are billed on refusals, lift assists, motor vehicles accidents and transports/refusals from fire calls.


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## Akulahawk (Jun 22, 2013)

Sacramento Metro Fire charges a fee of approximately $275 as a first responder/treat & no transport fee. If they transport, they also bundle certain fees so that their ALS base rate is $1615, Mileage is $28.78, Oxygen (if used) is $119.58, their Night fee is $105.34, and if the monitor is used it's $93.23. These are right off their Board Meeting summary for January 12, 2012 and I believe that's when they made those changes. It used to be that they didn't charge for a response, only transport.


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## v3nn3m (Jul 1, 2013)

Charge for transports in most situations, unless we are in specific villages


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## Turborg (Jul 8, 2013)

*Yes And No*

In New Zealand, we are fully funded by a government organisation called ACC (Accident Compensation Corporation) for Accidents only. All medical non accident related call outs incur a part charge for the service. This varies depending on where you live between $75-$85.


_Do I need to pay for this ambulance?
Yes: If you’re being treated and/or transported in an ambulance because of a medical emergency, there is a part charge you have to pay – even if someone else calls the ambulance for you.
No: If you have an accident related injury, that is covered by the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) for ambulance transport within 24 hours of the injury and if the injury meets ACC criteria.
Yes: If you have an accident related injury that is more than 24 hours old or injuries that do not meet ACC criteria, you need to pay the part charge._

Otherwise, if you are an overseas visitor, therefor not covered under ACC, then you pay $769.


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## shfd739 (Jul 8, 2013)

Refusal are no charge.

Refusal after treatment such as albuterol treatment, diabetic wake up have a charge that is supplies plus a medic assistance fee. This is about $500 total give or take depending on meds if I remember right. 

False alarm(pushed the button by accident,equipment malfunction) that came thru an alarm company is $100 false alarm fee.


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## SloEd (Aug 1, 2013)

We only charge if we transport.


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## Handsome Robb (Aug 1, 2013)

Charge for transports or working cardiac arrests that we pronounce on scene.

Not sure how much, I avoid knowing so I'm not lying to people and can honestly tell them I don't know how much it will cost. I've got a rough idea of how the system works and prices but that's all it is...a rough idea.


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## NomadicMedic (Aug 2, 2013)

County system, ALS is no charge. BLS fire companies charge a transport fee.


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## Tigger (Aug 2, 2013)

We charge for transports and "diabetic wakeup" type calls. No charge for unsuccessful resuscitations currently.


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