Comments on: County council rejects proposed ambulance fee

By: Flippy2

Flippy2 — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:59:21 +0000

Ok. Im coming to this convo late but being disabled since my late 20s, i have never called an ambulance for myself. When it was called for me (in a different state) my portion was well over $500. Im only on medicare and it will not eat the cost. I still to this day will not call 911 for myself. Thank God for cabs and the 17 bus that drops of in front of washington adventist.

By: tj

tj — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:59:12 +0000

If the Penguin, Washington Post, Gazette, etc. were to do a little probing on what it is costing the county to fund ambulance service to District residents, I’m certain that there will be an outcry from County residents. Why are my taxes funding social programs for District residents?

By: jag

jag — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:13:08 +0000

2nd tj. Minus the “this will turn into a much bigger issue than they realize.” That sounds like a bit of a scare tactic to go along with the falso notion that people would stop calling 911.

By: tj

tj — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:29:21 +0000

The council is absolutely wrong on this and for whatever reason is pandering to the firefighters on this issue.

Ike has stated on numerous occassions that no individual will receive an ambulance bill. Most insurance companies already cover ambulance fees and research has shown that insurance fees do not rise when communities move forward to have insurance companies cover ambulance fees.

This notion that people won’t call an ambulance if they or their loved ones is having an emergency is a blatant scare tactic. The bottom line is that individuals will not see a bill but people keep twisting the truth.

Another fact for those out there is that the County is servicing free of charge DC residents that use our County ambulances. Is this fair? Absolutely not!

Shame on those Council members that are opposed to ambulance fees.This will turn into a much bigger issue than they realize.

By: Woodside Park Bob

Woodside Park Bob — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:55:14 +0000

The Council got this one right.

They’re not subsidizing health insurance companies; they hare helping keep our health insurance premiums down. The insurance companies would simply build the increased costs into their premiums, add in their overhead and profit, and increase our premiums. The total cost to us would be more than the alternative cost in taxes.

Besides saving us money in insurance premiums (even if it does cost us in taxes), not having an ambulance fee will save lives. No one will hesitate to call an ambulance because they are worried about having to pay a fee or deal with insurance company hassles about paying.

By: JKS

JKS — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:50:44 +0000

While generously subsidizing health insurance companies at the rate of $15 mio per year, the Council is too cheap to spend $800K to guarantee equal access for all to the new Silver Spring Library.