Loma Linda California Now Selling 911 Insurance [telecom]

The city of Loma Linda, California, is now offering insurance against its residents having to pay per-incident fees when Fire Department medical teams answer 911 calls.

According to Jeff Bender, who is the Fire Chief for the City of Loma Linda, California, residents of the city now have the option of paying a yearly "voluntary subscription" and enrolling in a program that will cover the costs of Fire Department medical personnel responding to 911 calls. Those residents who pay the fee - currently Forty-Eight Dollars per year - will be exempt from having to pay Three-Hundred Dollars per incident (Four Hundred for non-residents) when medical personnel respond to an emergency.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Chief Bender assured me that there is no provision being made to alter the 911 system so that subscribers to the program receive priority treatment, and the Chief said that his department will continue to respond to all calls in the same way it has in the past. However, people who receive services and are not subscribers of the "Fire Medical" program will be expected to pay for every support incident, and the city will be turning uncollected bills over to dept-collection agencies.

Local municipalities have been billing accident victims for ambulance and paramedic services for a while now: my wife got a bill from the fire department in a neighboring community after she took an ambulance ride a couple of years ago. What's different in Loma Linda is that the city is willing to insure citizens against the costs of medical services directly, without them having to rely on their medical insurance carriers to cover the expense. This is, IMNSHO, an admission by the department that the costs of collecting its fees directly from insurance carriers have proven too high to be practical, and may also be evidence of a deteriorating insurance coverage pattern in general, as HMO's and other penny-pinchers try to nickel-and-dime their customers to death.

Of course, such municipal maneuvering is nothing new: "The Ancient Political Fishlike Smell" that Ogden Nash wrote about so long ago will continue to spread its ordure among twenty-first century voters, just as it always has. Call it what you will, it's another tax, as inevitable as death and cost externalization.

Bill Horne

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Reply to
Bill Horne
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A lot of cities are doing it at least in California, it is around $40.00 a year. What I want to know is what are the government agencies doing with the the money they get on our property tax bills that are listed and should be going to the fire departments? My guess it that they are using it for outher projects or just stuffing their pockets, the City of Riverside was putting money collected in street lighting fees [even in areas of the city that don't have street lights] for police services and putting money away for a rainy day as they put it; then giving themselves a 20% pay raise.

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Reply to
Steven

In the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metropolitan area the ambulance service is provided by a contracted organization set up for the purpose, and it bills users directly. The price for an emergency call is around $800. However, most municipalities in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area now have a plan where for a fee billed on your water/sewer bill, there is no charge for ambulance service. In some of the municipalities the fee is optional, in others it is mandatory, as is the case in my municipality. The ambulance service, set up as a governmental authority, still bills your insurance company, but eats any amount beyond that if you're enrolled in the plan. The fee is something less than $10 a month, as I recall. There has never been free (taxpayer paid) ambulance service in this area, although the ambulance service gets a subsidy from the municipalities. Wes Leatherock snipped-for-privacy@aol.com snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com

Reply to
Wesrock

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Actually this type of thing is common in my rural east coast area. Many local ambulance and paramedic squads are operated by volunteer outfits (many have some full time paid folks, particularly to cover the daytime calls). While the local government gives them some money, it is never enough to cover costs, so they solicit donations. The deal is that you donate a subscription fee (about $35-50 per year depending on how many are in the family) and if you need them they'll settle for whatever your insurance company pays and they don't bill you for the rest. Not a subscriber? Then you get a bill for the difference between the insurance payment and their real bill. Since the volunteer squads are independent of the government, there is no diversion of funds to other government services.

The local volunteer fire companies also solicit donations to balance their budgets, but they don't bill you or the insurance company for putting out a fire...

ET

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Reply to
Eric Tappert

|The deal is that you donate a subscription fee (about $35-50 per year |depending on how many are in the family) and if you need them they'll |settle for whatever your insurance company pays and they don't bill |you for the rest. Not a subscriber? Then you get a bill for the |difference between the insurance payment and their real bill.

Can they do this if your |However, most municipalities in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area |now have a plan where for a fee billed on your water/sewer bill, |there is no charge for ambulance service. In some of the |municipalities the fee is optional, in others it is mandatory, as is |the case in my municipality. The ambulance service, set up as a |governmental authority, still bills your insurance company, but eats |any amount beyond that if you're enrolled in the plan. The fee is |something less than $10 a month, as I recall.

Similar question here. If they have an arrangement to bill Medicare don't they have to agree to accept Medicare's prices? If they don't have an arrangement to bill Medicare then in the case where the victim had paid the fee how do they get anything?

Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com

Reply to
Dan Lanciani

When you sign up you probably waive your rights under Medicare; at least that's my guess.

The smartest move is to avoid these plans like the plague.

Reply to
Sam Spade

Yes they can. My wife and I never had an ambulance call before we were on Medicare but we have two since and it works just that way. Medicare is just insurance and does not pay 100% (only 80% of the "Medicare approved amount"). Wes Leatherock snipped-for-privacy@aol.com snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com

Reply to
Wesrock

Typically (but not always) Medicare pays 80% of the approved amount. You are responsible for the other 20%. Example, Dr. Jones bills Medicare for $145. They approve $100 and pay $80. You are responsible for $20. The $45 is thrown out.

Reply to
Sam Spade

I don't think this is obviously equivalent to the original statement. If they bill you for the difference between what Medicare allows and what Medicare pays (considering various co-pays and deductibles) then they are doing exactly what any other provider does. If you have a medigap policy it will cover that difference.

On the other hand, if they bill you for the difference between what Medicare pays and their "real bill" (unless their real bill happens to be less than or equal to the Medicare approved amount) then they are in violation of Medicare policy and probably (since Medicare policy seems to have the force of law) some laws.

There is a *huge* difference between the two policies. One of the big benefits of Medicare is the reduced prices, to the point where it would be beneficial to be able to buy into the price structure even with no actual coverage. Other medical providers would love to be able to bill you for the difference between what Medicare pays and their "real bill" (for "real bill" equal to what an uninsured victim would pay) but they obviously can't do that and still have the ability to "accept" Medicare.

Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com

Reply to
Dan Lanciani

The wording that appears on you doctor bill is usually "Medicare writeoff" for that $45. A doctor that accepts Medicare assignment, by law may not charge Medicare patients more than the "Medicare approved amount." Wes Leatherock snipped-for-privacy@aol.com snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com

Reply to
Wesrock

They don't have to accept assignment to get paid something by Medicare. Same deal with most insurance companies--my regular doctor accepts assignment from Blue Cross so the doctor writes down the bill to the BC amount, then, since I have a giantic deductible, that's how much I pay. A few doctors don't accept assignment, BC pays less, and they balance bill the patient.

But what does this have to do with telecom?

R's, John

***** Moderator's Note *****

The bill collectors call you on the phone?

On that positive note, I'll close the thread.

Bill Horne Moderator

Reply to
John Levine

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