By Andrew Turner
Daily Pilot
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. — In order to help offset rising operational costs and to add a vehicle to its emergency fleet, Laguna Beach will raise transport rates for its in-house ambulance program, the City Council decided at its meeting Tuesday.
The city launched its ambulance program July 1, 2022. The basic life support rate of $2, 800 has remained unchanged since it was set in 2021.
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Fire Chief Andrew Hill pointed to rising costs at the pump, as well as for medical supplies, maintenance and equipment. He advocated for an inflation- based rate increase of approximately 10.3 % from the program’s inception, plus annual adjustments based on the consumer price index over the next five years.
Advertisement Patients who use the city ‘s ambulance services can expect to pay a basic life support fee of $3, 088.40 and an advanced life support fee of $3, 529.60.
“We ‘re estimating, with that increase, we will recoup about $92, 000 in additional reimbursement for the services provided, " Hill said. “We ‘re asking for just an automatic increase based on CPI going forward for the next five years.”
EMT’s including David Carrillo, far left, receive certificates from Congresswoman Michelle Steele’s office, during introduction and roll out ceremony for the new in- house ambulance program to Laguna Beach Fire Department at Station No. 4 on Friday.
News Laguna Beach launches in- house ambulance program. The program, to be run by the Laguna Beach fire department, kicked off with two events commemorating the launch of the service on Friday.
July 1, 2022, The actual revenue realized, city staff reported, will depend on transport volume, payer mix and reimbursement rates. In 2025, 47 % of ambulance transports were paid for via Medicare. Medi- Cal and private insurance each made up 17 % of the payer mix, and cash pay accounted for 16 %.
Hill said he anticipates that most of the rate increase will be handled by those who pay for the service through cash or private insurance.
Against a sampling of Orange County agencies, Laguna Beach’s price tag for ambulance transport far exceeded that of neighboring fire departments in 2021. A staff report noted that since then, Huntington Beach has raised its rate from $1, 336 to $2, 155, and Newport Beach has seen an increase from $1, 721 to $2, 743.
With the launch of its ambulance program, the city aimed to improve response times, operate in a fiscally sustainable manner, and support career growth and development.
The city recently hired its 100th ambulance operator, Hill said, adding that the operators are part-time employees on a three- year limited term contract. Twenty- nine of the city ‘s ambulance operators have gone on to full- time firefighter positions, including five with Laguna Beach .
Laguna Beach ambulances transported 4, 990 patients over the three- year period from 2023 to 2025, according to city staff.
The City of Laguna Beach deciding to move forward with an in- house ambulance service. Fire station No.2 is shown above.
News Laguna Beach moves ahead with startup costs for city-run ambulance service Laguna Beach is moving forward with an in- house ambulance service set to launch July 1 .
Jan. 28, 2022 “In fiscal year 2023- 24, the program operated with a net cost of about $161, 000, " said Kirsten Gallacher, a senior administrative analyst for the city. “Beginning in fiscal year 2024- 25, the city began participating in the state’s Intergovernmental Transfer Variable Rate Reimbursement Program. This increased expenditures due to required intergovernmental transfer contributions, which are based on transport volume.”
Gallacher noted, however, that supplemental reimbursements increased revenue to the program so that in fiscal year 2024- 25 there was a positive net position of about $113, 000 and the current fiscal year is remaining positive at $97, 000.
The addition of a new ambulance to the city’s fleet brings the total to four. The new vehicle will cost the city approximately $315, 000, financed over seven years. The council appropriated $55, 000 from the vehicle replacement fund for the first- year payment; future payments will be included within the fire department’s budget.
“When we built our system, we anticipated needing two ambulances for 24 hours a day in the city to provide service, " Hill said. “What we found out is in the summer months, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, we were getting an influx of calls that we could not handle at two ambulances, so we took our third ambulance, which was our spare ambulance, and we started staffing it for 12 hours a day between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
“That ambulance, over the years, has averaged about 200 patients a summer for transporting, which means that the other two ambulances were busy at that time. So by adding an additional ambulance, we’re just looking to build in some redundancy into our system and have the opportunity for one more surge ambulance to be in position when needed.”
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