By Mike Morrison
The Florida Times-Union
BRANTLEY COUNTY, Ga. — Brantley County’s ill, injured and infirm have run up quite a tab - something in excess of $800,000 - in unpaid ambulance bills.
And, without trying to seem hard-hearted, the County Commission wants those bills paid, especially given the size of the county’s debt.
“This money would come in very handy,” Commission Chairman Ron Ham said. “We owe $3 million in debt.”
The unpaid bills stretch back several years, and with each day that passes, the likelihood of collecting those debts diminishes. To ensure that at least some of the owed money finds its way into county coffers, the County Commission is working out the final details of a contract with a Brunswick collection agency experienced in collecting medical debts.
The agency would keep up to 50 percent of what it collects, Ham said, which might seem steep under different circumstances.
“We’re getting nothing now,” Ham said. “Let’s either collect it or write it off. We need to clean up our books.”
County Manager Chuck Madray said the county has attempted to collect the debt and has actually whittled away at a sum that once topped $1 million, but can’t make any headway on some of the cases.
The collection agency, RGL and Associates, Madray said, “has the experience and manpower to do the job.”
The county’s Emergency Medical Services operates three ambulances staffed around the clock by the nine paramedics and nine emergency medical technicians.
A Brantley resident experiencing a medical emergency can run up a big bill in a hurry no matter where he or she lives in the rural county. With no hospital, patients must be transported out-of-county, and those miles don’t come cheap.
Fees range from $400 to $525, depending on the level of medical care administered by the paramedics and EMTs, plus $10.50 a mile. A trip to the hospital in Brunswick or Waycross could add an additional $300 to $400 to the bill, EMS Director Tim Crews said.
“A single bill can go over $700 easily,” Crews said.
With an annual budget of $1.3 million, the service is not self-supporting, Ham said, but still depends on the fees it collects to maintain its level of service.
The service averages more than six calls a day, Crews said, billing for nearly $800,000 a year, 60 percent of which it is able to collect.
“But if you’re not collecting $300,000 a year, it adds up,” Crews said.
EMS is very flexible when it comes to collection, he said.
“We make every attempt,” Crews said. “We bill them three times. There are no late fees or penalties, and we’re willing to make arrangements. As long as they communicate a desire to pay, we’ll work with them any way we can. We’ll let it go as long as it takes.”
Some Brantley residents apparently can’t live with those terms. Mostly, Crews said, they’re uninsured and not covered by Medicaid or Medicare, and can’t or won’t pay up.
Those cases are the ones that will go to the collection agency, but only after six months have elapsed.
Some residents have rolled up huge debts.
“There are some people who have been transported numerous times and owe multiple thousands of dollars,” Crews said. Despite their debt, they’re never denied service.
“We never refuse any call, and we never refuse to transport them if they want to be transported,” Crews said. “We never question them.”
Madray said the problem is not unique to Brantley County.
“All counties have this problem,” he said. “You can only collect a certain percentage of what’s owed for emergency medical services. That’s just the way it is.”
Still, Ham said, the county needs to do what it can to claim the lost revenue.
“If we can collect it, we need to collect it,” he said.
Copyright 2009 The Florida Times-Union