Excerpts from theChicagoTribune.com:
The Park Ridge City Council on May 2 approved new ambulance fees for residents and nonresidents who use their services within the city’s boundaries. According to documents provided by the city, the resident rate for basic life support service will increase from $500 to $650, while the rate for advanced services will increase from $700 to $800.A higher level of advance life support will remain at $950 for residents, while the mileage charge of $15 per mile also will not increase.
The nonresident rate for basic life support will increase from $650 to $825, while forms of advanced life support service will increase by $25.
Patients with Medicare coverage will pay different rates, in accordance with fees that are published each year by the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, the city’s ordinance on ambulance fees says.
Paul Lisowski, executive officer for the Park Ridge Fire Department, told the city council on April 25 that non-Medicare ambulance fees have not been raised since 2011. The increases were determined based on a survey of 107 suburban fire departments. Park Ridge’s new rates now hover around the average fees charged by these departments, the survey shows.
The fire department does not currently charge for treatment that does not result in transport to the hospital, Lisowski said.
Through an intergovernmental agreement with the Des Plaines Fire Department and North Maine Fire Protection District, residents of Park Ridge will still be charged resident rates even if they are treated in the city by paramedics from these other two communities, Lisowski’s memo to the City Council said.
But residents can be charged different rates if they receive mutual aid service from other neighboring departments, like Niles or Rosemont.
“We are currently in discussions with our other immediate neighboring fire departments to see if we can enter into an agreement with them as well,” he said. “If these discussions lead to any tentative agreements with any other departments, we will bring them to council for their approval.”
thanks Dan
