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Fla. county considers waiving ambulance fees for locals

Bay County commissioners are considering a policy that would still bill insurance companies, but not require locals to pay out-of-pocket fees

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County officials are considering a new policy that would waive ambulance fees for locals.

Photo/Bay County Emergency Services

By EMS1 Staff

BAY COUNTY, Fla. — County officials are considering a new policy that would waive ambulance fees for locals.

WJHG reported that if Bay County commissioners approve the new policy, full-time locals would not have to pay any out-of-pocket fees for ambulance transports. The fees can be anywhere from $800 to $1,400.

Patients on Medicare and Medicaid will benefit from the policy, because the agencies sometimes leave patients with the entire ambulance fee to pay if they do not determine the transport to be medically necessary.

“We began subsidizing EMS this past fiscal year, to the tune of $2.2 million,” Bay County manager Bob Majka said. “Those funds come out of the county general fund. So this is a way for us to come back and say to the residents of Bay County who are subsidizing this service, ‘You will no longer get a bill from us.’”

The new policy would begin on May 1 if it is approved.

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