The Associated Press
Oregon Live
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ASHLAND, Ore. — Ashland has become a magnet for retirees, and city officials say that’s largely responsible for a $1 million gap in the city budget for ambulance runs, which have more than tripled in three decades.
Greg Case, chief of the emergency services division, says there are fewer families and more people living in retirement and assisted living settings. He’s been an Ashland medic since 1980.
“Back then the call volume was much lower,” Case said. “Now we run about 3,650 calls a year; back then it was about 900 to 1,000 calls a year.”
Nearly 60 percent of ambulance calls are for Medicare patients, a number that has climbed 10 percentage points over the last five years, he said.
Federal payments for those runs are less than half of what the city bills, Case said. For the 9 percent of ambulance patients who have Medicaid, the program for the poor and disabled, the federal government’s share is about a third, he said.
“Unlike doctors, we cannot restrict the amount of Medicare-Medicaid patients we accept,” he said. “We respond to everyone.”
Lee Tuneberg, director of administrative services, cited rising fuel costs as well.
“Expenses are growing faster than the revenue stream,” Tuneberg said.
The City Council, he said, expects to spend about $2.15 million on the ambulance service in the next budget, but low revenues will leave a $1 million shortfall.
He said raising property taxes and charging more for ambulance services to those who can pay will likely be discussed.