The city of Bryan writes off $1.7 million dollars a year from people without insurance who don’t pay for using fire department ambulances.
A city council majority at its last meeting voted to lower ambulance bills as a trial to see if that will increase collections from those users.
The one year experiment was proposed by Mike Southerland, who noted the city accepts discounts from those who have insurance but there is no break for uninsured patients who on the average pay five percent of an $1,100 dollar bill.
The issue generated two votes. An amendment that passed on a 4-3 vote limits the discount to one year. Those in favor were Southerland, Rafael Pena, Al Saenz, and Greg Owens. The main motion, as amended, passed on a 5-2 vote, with Art Hughes joining the majority.
Mayor Jason Bienski was concerned there would be an increase in people calling for an ambulance for non-emergencies.
According to the Bryan fire department’s 2014 review of 3,114 emergency medical service (EMS) ambulance calls, six percent was listed as “other” and 15 percent was listed as “none”.
Councilman Chuck Konderla brought up the unattended consequences of the uninsured who are paying their bill.
Before Hughes voted he spoke against the proposal.
It’s a free ride for someone whose adjusted gross income (AGI) is below 125 percent of the federal poverty level. A sliding scale goes down to a 25 percent break for a patient with an AGI of 200 percent. And the city doesn’t tell credit reporting agencies about the discount.
Click HERE to read and download the background information given to the Bryan city council.
Click HERE to read and download the resolution passed by the Bryan city council.
Click HERE to read and download the Bryan fire department’s 2014 EMS report.
