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Ambulance rides are a major cause of medical debt. FDNY still wants to raise the cost.
By
Caroline Lewis
Published Mar 23, 2023
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Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images
By
Caroline Lewis
Published Mar 23, 2023
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New York City ambulance bills could get a little more painful.
The FDNY will hold a public hearing Friday on a proposal to raise the rate it bills patients and insurers for emergency medical services. The suggested rule change states that the price hike is needed to defray rising labor costs and other expenses and would help reduce the amount taxpayers have to cover.
But ambulance bills are historically tied to developing personal debt. In a recent national survey of people with medical debt, 1 in 5 traced it back to an ambulance ride, according to the health policy nonprofit KFF.
The FDNY wants to bill $1,385 for an ambulance ride on which a patient is provided with basic life support – a 54% increase over the current rate of $900. The agency is seeking less dramatic rate hikes, between 4% and 10%, for ambulance rides with different levels of advanced life support. Those rides already cost upwards of $1,500 apiece.
The FDNY last raised ambulance rates in January 2021 in a move that was expected to raise an additional $4 million per year. Emergency medical workers in the FDNY also got a pay bump through contract negotiations in 2021.
The FDNY opened up public comment and scheduled a hearing on the latest proposed rate hike pursuant to the regulations around rulemaking by city agencies. After Friday’s hearing, FDNY will finalize the rule, send it to the City Council and publish it in the City Record, where it must sit for at least 30 days before taking effect. FDNY has final say over whether to adopt the price increase as written.
The rate hikes are concerning because ambulance rides often result in surprise medical bills, said Elisabeth Benjamin, vice president of health initiatives at the Community Service Society of New York.
“To levy an astronomical price increase seems patently unfair for a service that no patient has control over,” Benjamin said.
‘Surprise bills’ are those that result from a patient unexpectedly getting care outside of their insurance network and getting billed for more than they would have paid in-network. Because people usually use ambulances in an emergency, it’s hard to check if they’re in-network.
Patients enrolled in health plans regulated by New York state, such as the ones available on the Affordable Care Act marketplace, are protected from receiving out-of-network charges for ambulances and other medical services by state law.
But ambulances are exempt from a similar federal law, called the No Surprises Act, that took effect in 2022. That means New Yorkers could still get surprise bills for ambulance rides if they’re insured through some employer-sponsored health plans that are federally regulated, or have insurance from out of state.
The FDNY is accepting public comments on the proposed rate hikes through Friday. Some early comments are already visible online — and generally question why New Yorkers could be asked to pay additional ambulance bills on top of taxes.
“The increases are passed along to the patient, who in most instance[s] is a New York City resident who already pays taxes for [this] service. It’s not fair,” one commenter said.
The FDNY does have a financial assistance program for New York state residents who are uninsured or can’t cover the cost of an ambulance ride after insurance, and patients can call their billing department at 844-394-5716 to make a request.
Gothamist contacted the FDNY for comment but received no reply.
Tagged
new york city
health care
Health and Science
Caroline Lewis
Caroline Lewis is on the health care beat for WNYC and Gothamist. She has covered COVID, a nurses' strike, the overdose crisis and New York’s marijuana legalization effort, and spent a year investigating patients' medical bills. She always wants to hear about how everyday New Yorkers experience the health system. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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