Ambulance Reimbursement: An Important Message from County Executive Ike Leggett to County Resident's

Dear County Resident:

I want to inform you of an important issue facing the County that could have an adverse impact on every County resident.

 

Many of you are aware that the November ballot will contain County Question A. The Question gives voters the opportunity to decide whether County Council Bill 13-10: Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Transport Fee, which passed in May, should remain law.

 

Under the law, the County would be allowed to recover ambulance transport costs from premiums already paid to insurance companies, Medicare, and Medicaid -- $14 million this year and $170 million over the next 10 years. All revenues would be dedicated, by law, to strengthen our Fire and Rescue Service. No County resident will ever get a bill for ambulance transport, co-pays or deductibles -- whether they have insurance or not.

The Montgomery Fire and Rescue Service will continue to serve anybody in need, regardless of ability to pay – whether rich or poor or in-between, whether County resident or not. Just like now. Nothing will change – except that our Fire and Rescue Service will have more resources in meet critical future needs for staffing, equipment, and to improve EMS response times.

Nearly every jurisdiction in the Washington region collects millions of dollars in ambulance reimbursements from insurance companies, Medicare, and Medicaid – with no adverse effects. (Click here to see the Washington Post story on Thursday, “Area Fire Chiefs Back Ambulance Fee: 911 Calls Unaffected”)

 

Our neighbors are using those resources to save lives – and Montgomery County should do the same. We cannot afford to leave this money on the table.

 
The League of Women Voters of Montgomery County agrees. So too does the Montgomery County Fire Fighters and Paramedics, Local 1664. Click here to see editorials in The Washington Post and in The Gazette newspapers supporting County ambulance reimbursement.

There are basically three choices:

1.  Approve ambulance reimbursement from insurance companies, Medicare, and Medicaid to bring in $14 million this year and $170 million over the next ten years;

2.  Reduce critical County services, including public safety; or

3.  Increase taxes.

I choose the first option. It just makes sense.

As I travel around the County, I meet many residents who have asked for facts and accurate information on the EMS Transport Fee. For more information, you can go to www.montgomerycountymd.gov/emstransportfee.

Whatever your perspective, please vote in the upcoming general elections as they are critical to our ability to maintain Montgomery County as the special place it is today to live, work, play, and age with dignity. In addition to voting in person on Tuesday, November 2 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at your polling location, you may vote by absentee ballot. Absentee ballot request forms can be downloaded here and must be returned by October 26, 2010.

This year, for the first time, you may cast your vote at any one of the Early Voting Centers inthe County between Friday, October 22 and Thursday, October 28 from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. (except Sunday, October 24). I urge you to consider joining the thousands of County voters who will be taking advantage of this highly efficient means of carrying out our civic duty.

Sincerely,

Ike Leggett
County Executive

EMS Transport Fee Referendum and FY2011 Budget Adjustments

OFFICES OF THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Isiah Leggett
County Executive

M E M O R A N D U M

August 5, 2010

TO: Nancy Floreen, Council President
FROM: Isiah Leggett, County Executive
SUBJECT: EMS Transport Fee Referendum and FY2011 Budget Adjustments

As you are aware, if the ballot initiative related to Bill 13-10, Emergency Medical Services Transport Fee – Established, is successfully petitioned and certified, it stays the implementation of Bill 13-10, and therefore leads to an immediate shortfall in the current year budget of approximately $14 million. The purpose of this memorandum is to notify the Council of how I plan to proceed if Bill 13-10 is successfully petitioned to referendum.

The Emergency Medical Services reimbursement will fund critically needed services and would bring in $14 million a year – and $200 million over ten years -- in revenue from monies already set aside by private insurance companies, Medicare, and Medicaid. County residents with health insurance will pay nothing – no co-pays, no deductibles, nothing. The charge will be billed directly to Medicare, Medicaid, and health insurance companies. County residents without insurance pay nothing. And whatever standard rates companies pay for the service will be accepted as payment in full. It would be most unfortunate if we cannot access these funds to improve services and save lives.

It is critical that we move quickly to identify immediately the necessary budget adjustments to deal with the potential new gap because of continued uncertainty about the economy and our revenue collections, and the need to ensure that we maintain adequate reserves. I have asked the Office of Management and Budget to begin preparing for my consideration, $14 million in tax-supported reductions.

Making these cuts will be tremendously difficult based on the reductions we have already taken. Balancing the FY2011 budget was extraordinarily challenging and our community is already bearing the impact of those difficult decisions. Because of the limited options available, these additional cuts will impact all of the County Government and will certainly hit public safety, including our fire and rescue services.

To place the cuts in perspective, the furloughing of county employees, which is proving challenging to our delivery of services, saved approximately $10 million, far short of what will be needed to cover the loss of revenue from the fee.

If the referendum is certified, I will share my planned reductions with the Council and I will ask that you act on them as soon as possible. The longer we wait in the fiscal year to identify reductions to offset a loss of reimbursement revenues for EMS transport services, the more difficult it will be to achieve the necessary savings.

IL:rsd

For pdf actual version of Memo, please click HERE

With Volunteer Support, Prince William County, VA Passes Emergency Medical Transport Revenue Recovery Initiative

Program Mirrors Montgomery County’s EMS Reimbursement
Which Strengthens Fire and Rescue at No Cost to County Residents

Prince William County, VA this week approved, with the support of its volunteers, an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) billing program like the one that was approved by the County Council and signed into law this year in Montgomery County.

Both counties have programs that recover the costs of emergency transports from individual insurance companies, Medicare, and Medicaid and use those proceeds to save lives – at no additional cost to County residents.

Nearly all local jurisdictions have successfully enacted EMS transport reimbursements including Fairfax County, Frederick County, Prince George’s County, the District of Columbia, Arlington County, Anne Arundel County and the city of Alexandria. There is no evidence from jurisdictions that have successfully implemented a user fee that it deters anyone from calling for needed emergency medical transport assistance, negatively impacts volunteers, or increases health insurance premiums.

“In Montgomery County, we know that the EMS transport fee will save lives because we will be able to better meet the growing emergency services needs in our community,” said County Executive Isiah Leggett. “Council passage of the bill this year means that this County will initially recover $14 million from funds already set aside by private insurance companies, Medicare, and Medicaid for transports. In 10 years, we expect to recover nearly $170 million in costs for EMS transports. That is significant.”

“No resident will pay out of pocket for emergency medical transports, and no one should ever hesitate to call 911 if they need emergency medical help,” said Montgomery County Fire Chief Richard Bowers.

An Emergency Medical Services Transport reimbursement is charged electronically to Medicare, Medicaid, and the private health insurance companies of County residents and non-County residents. The costs of emergency services are already collected in the form of premiums by these insurers. County residents with health insurance are not responsible for co-pays or deductibles, as these charges are covered by their tax dollars. The fee for County residents without health insurance will likewise be covered by their tax dollars. Non-County residents with health insurance may be responsible for co-pays and deductibles, depending on their policies. The County will accept whatever standard payment individual insurance companies have established as “payment in full.”

For more information about Montgomery County’s EMS transport fee, go to http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/emstransportfee

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Anne Arundel County Approves EMS Transport Reimbursement With Support of Anne Arundel Volunteer Firefighters

Anne Arundel County Approves EMS Transport Reimbursement With Support of Anne Arundel Volunteer Firefighters - Earlier this week, the Anne Arundel County Council approved an EMS (emergency medical services) transport reimbursement fee with the support of their volunteer emergency medical technicians and firefighters. This brings Anne Arundel into line with other jurisdictions in the Baltimore and Washington metropolitan region that already have EMS fees or reimbursement programs. For more information go to:

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/apps/News/press/PR_details.asp?PrID=5398