Amherst wants more for ambulance coverage

By Mary Carey
Staff Writer

Published on September 11, 2007

PELHAM - Amherst is asking towns that use its ambulance service to pay more for calls, in some cases almost six times as much, so Amherst doesn't have to make up the difference when individuals or their insurance companies don't pay.

Hadley's cost would go from $66,013 in 2006 to a suggested $381,835.

Leverett, Shutesbury and Pelham would see more moderate increases, although they are still being asked to pay about double what they are now.

Amherst Town Manager Larry Shaffer sent letters in June explaining that Amherst is now collecting from the towns significantly less per ambulance call than the approximately $998 it costs the Amherst Fire Department per trip.

"We just want what we think is fair," Shaffer told Pelham selectmen, to whom he explained the proposed increases in person on Monday night. "This is not a double-dipping, scam type of thing."

Amherst confronted the reality that it is not charging enough for its ambulance service as a by-product of the town's recent negotiations with the University of Massachusetts to pay more for the services it receives from the town, Shaffer said.

The town bills individuals receiving ambulance services, who, in turn, send the bill to their insurance companies. But payments from insurers, including Medicare, only cover an average 70 percent of the cost of calls the insurers agree to cover. In some instances, insurance companies won't pay and neither will the people receiving the services, Shaffer said. "If we don't receive the payments, we write it off."

Amherst needs to collect $474 more per ambulance call to make up for all the calls for which the town is not paid at all, Shaffer said. He suggests that towns multiply the number of calls to their community by that amount.

"Every call we make is costing us $474, and that's after the good people of Pelham have paid us," Shaffer said.

Shaffer said that $32,950 is a "more appropriate amount" for Pelham than the $13,468 it paid in fiscal year 2006. He asked the Board of Selectmen to consider paying $32,950, write him a "counter" offer and let the discussions begin. The increase would not go into effect for at least another year.

Leverett paid $15,965 in 2006 and will be asked to pay $25,197.

Shutesbury paid $17,347 and the suggested amount is $31,012.

"I wish we were making a ton of money and I didn't have to come up here," Shaffer told Pelham selectmen.

Pelham Selectman Edward Martin suggested that if Amherst raises the price of calls too high, some towns might look elsewhere for service.

"A town like Hadley might break off and start their own service," Martin said.

Pelham Police Chief Edward Fleury questioned why municipalities should be asked to pay more to make up for nonpayments by individuals who may not live in the town.

"I bet you our residents pay a larger percentage of bills than, say, some students and renters in your town," Fleury told Shaffer.

"I don't think as taxpayers we should be paying for people who don't pay their bills. No offense, Mr. Shaffer, but we're having a lot of (financial) trouble in our town, too."

Shaffer countered that the cost of a call to Pelham can be much higher than a call in Amherst, since the ambulance has to travel farther and the two firefighters in the ambulance are spending more time on the call. That is especially true, if they are bringing a patient to the hospital in Greenfield, Shaffer said.

Shaffer hasn't been to Hadley, which would be seeing the biggest increase, to talk about the proposal yet. But Town Administrator David Nixon has seen it.

"We've budgeted about $75,000 and they've asked us to put a three in front of that," Nixon said.

Nixon said Hadley's Board of Selectmen will have questions for Shaffer before it considers such an increase.

According to Amherst's calculations, 788 of a total 3,556 ambulance calls were to Hadley in 2006.

Mary Carey can be reached at mary.carey@att.net.