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Iowa city planning to charge patients for on-scene care

The charge is a way to cut down on taxpayers’ cost for the new EMS division that Sioux City Fire Rescue will soon implement

By EMS1 Staff

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — A new proposal aims to charge patients who are treated on the scene of an incident, but do not require ambulance transport.

Sioux City Journal reported that the patients could begin getting billed in January, when Sioux City Fire Rescue begins taking over EMS in an effort to reduce the cost put on taxpayers for the new division.

“We want to try to have the cost of this system borne by the users of this system as much as possible to reduce the overall subsidy,” Fire Chief Tom Everett said.

The proposed fee schedule is predicted to bring in $1.75 million annually.