Ambulances to get new fees, ‘subscription’

MUNCIE – Local ambulance users will see an increase in fees for Delaware County EMS in the coming months but will also be able to “subscribe” to a service that has the potential to make paying easier.

EMS director Jason Rogers said the subscription service, called Delaware Care — which costs $25 a year for an individual and $75 for a family — will “write off what’s not covered by insurance.”

The Delaware County commissioners gave initial approval to the new EMS fee schedule in their Monday morning meeting. Final approval could come in the commissioners’ Nov. 17 meeting.

The new fees — some of them representing the first changes since the 1980s — go toward the operations of Delaware County EMS, which has been nearly revenue-and-cost neutral in recent years.

The new rates vary from $550 for basic life support to $1,200 for the highest level of advanced life support. Officials on Monday couldn’t tell The Star Press the current equivalent prices for those services.

EMS is also increasing to $100 an hour the amount it charges for standing by at public events.

“I still think we’re very competitive,” Rogers said.

Commissioner Sherry Riggin asked about the Delaware Care program that was included in the fees resolution. Rogers described it as a “subscription service.”

“You can purchase your enrollment for a year,” he said. “If you call an ambulance, when you get the bill, we would write off what’s not covered by insurance.

“If you send your kids to Ball State, you can tell them, ‘We will pay that $25 fee for you.”

Riggin and Rogers noted other services that EMS will continue to perform for free. If a person falls, EMS will respond to a call, check on that person and get them back in bed if they don’t want or require transport.

“We do a lot of lift assist,” Rogers said, adding that EMS also checks on diabetics with health emergencies.

Contact Keith Roysdon at 765-213-5828 and follow him on Twitter: @keithroysdon