THE TRUTH ABOUT THE COUNTY AMBULANCE FEE
For 26 years, Baltimore County has refused to charge a fee for ambulance rides, although just about every jurisdiction in the state and many in most of the nation charge such a fee and bill it to health insurance companies. Finally, Baltimore County has seen the light and on August 3 approved an ambulance (EMS) fee.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO EMPHASIZE THAT NO BALTIMORE COUNTY RESIDENT WILL BE CHARGED THE FEE
If the county resident using the ambulance service has health insurance, the county will bill the insurance carrier for the service, which costs $700 or $750 and higher for advanced life support. Even if the insurance carrier pays only a portion of the ambulance service cost, the county resident will not be billed for the remainder of the cost. If the county resident has no insurance, the county will pick up the tab. In no event, will ambulance service cost a Baltimore County resident anything. Health insurance policies currently cover all or a portion of ambulance services.
IT IS EQUALLY IMPORTANT TO EMPHASIZE THAT BALTIMORE COUNTY PROPERTY AND INCOME TAXES CURRENTLY COVER ALL THE COSTS OF AMBULANCE SERVICES
Had the County continued to not charge a fee and pick up the entire tab for ambulance service it would be looking for ways to squeeze more money out of county taxpayers or cut services in order to balance the budget. By making insurance carriers pay the ambulance fee, county revenues will increase by approximately $25 million to $27 million annually. And that new additional revenue will go into the general fund.
With this increase in revenue, there is no reason why Baltimore County can’t repeal the Rain Tax. Such a repeal will reduce county revenue by $16 million – below the revenue generated by the ambulance fee!
The ambulance fee is a win-win deal for the county and its citizens. I am pleased that Baltimore County has finally seen the light.
Please do not hesitate to contact me on this or any other issue of concern to you. As always, I encourage and welcome your input. It is important to me and enables me to bring your voice to Towson.
~Wade
So bottom line. The taxpayer who utilized the ambulance services in Baltimore County will now be required to pay for this service. IS that correct?
Thank you so much for this clear explanation. Being in the health insurance industry I was aware of coverage for this service,but not until recently that Baltimore County never collected it. This makes sense and I hope the rain tax will be repealed because it was a money grab plan and simple. My only concern is how the insurance industry actuaries will react. This will affect the bottom line a little.
Wade, Well stated! Keep up the great work! Also, keep working on repealing the Rain Tax. I could never understand why such a tax was ever enacted in the first place. Andy
So, I’m wondering what will happen to my already extremely high health insurance premiums now that we have passed those expenses to them. Hmmm? Let’s look for a way to cut spending to cover the ambo cost. Pretending that we will not inevitably pay the tab somewhere makes me shake my head and wonder.