By Peter Bukowski
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Germantown, Wisc. — Getting to the hospital just got more expensive for folks in Germantown, when village officials approved significant increases in fees for emergency-medical services.
The cost of something as simple as an ambulance ride will go up $100, sending the bill to $450 from $350.
And if the ambulance shows up and isn’t needed for transport to a hospital, residents still get a bill, one that will go up $25 to either $150 or $200, depending on how often emergency responders are being called. Deputy Fire Chief John Delain said EMS units are often dispatched to certain residents for minor problems like falls. Now, when those calls pile up, it will cost even more. If the ambulance has been called to a house five to 10 times, it’ll cost $50 more for that call. If the ambulance has been called 16 or more times, it will be $200 a visit, as opposed to the $175 the village used to charge.
One of the other major changes is the cost of an extrication, the kind of thing that may happen at a serious car accident. If it takes more than an hour, there will be a flat-rate of $500, where as the billing used to be by the hour.
Hike billing company’s idea The village contracts with a third-party billing company for emergency services. Three Rivers Billing, the company handling invoicing for Germantown’s EMS and EMT services, suggested the rate increase after doing a study on communities of similar size.
Germantown had not raised rates since 2005, but costs for maintenance, equipment and medication have all risen.
Fire Chief Gary Pollpeter said the village is now on the same page with what other communities charge. That will include some new fees for procedures and medications that previously had no cost.
One of the other key increases is the cost per mile for an ambulance ride, jumping from $9 to $15. The closest hospital for many patients is Community Memorial Hospital in Menomonee Falls, which for some will mean a very expensive ride.
Calls for ambulances on rise Village officials insisted that this is not an opportunity to turn a profit, but rather to cover the true cost of transport.
“We’ve noticed an uptick in calls over the last couple years, and part of that can be accounted for with the increase in assisted-living (housing),” explained Village President Dean Wolter. Unfortunately, many of the aforementioned frequentfliers are also senior citizens, many of whom are on fixedincomes and will not be subject to the cost hikes.
The village runs four ambulances, and the more calls those vehicles go on, the more wear and tear they undergo and the more supplies the medical staff use.
The Board of Trustees voted unanimously to pass the fee increase.
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