Public Meeting #3

Imagine that your mother has just collapsed on to the floor and is non-responsive. Are you going to call several ambulance companies to determine what the best rate is to transport your mother to the hospital. You may consider it after recent government action. On Oct. 8, the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Committee heard arguments from local ambulance operators on keeping a $25 surcharge on transportation bills. The ambulance companies adopted the surcharge to offset the high price of gas in recent months. Commissioner Brian Blair called the surcharge excessive and questioned if it was the commission’s duty to step in and monitor the ambulance charges.

American Medical Response spokesperson Nancy Castellano came before the commission to discuss the adoption of the surcharge. Castellano explained that despite a $10 charge per mile of the transport that patients are not charged for services offered by the medical technicians that operate the ambulances. For example, if a stretcher or CPR is required, a patient is not charged for these instances. Furthermore, the vehicles are left running the entire time of the transport. If a patient needs medical attention on the scene and then needs to be loaded on a stretcher, the ambulance is left running outside the property to continue running medical equipment and the air conditioning. All of these incurrences are at the expense of the ambulance company and are not charged to the patient. Castellano believes that due to high gas prices in recent months that the $25 surcharge is acceptable to offset the prices of diesel fuel that the ambulances require.

Commissioner chairman Kevin White noted that the commission has oversaw the implementation of surcharges in both the taxi and tow truck service industries and that it should be their duty to oversee the ambulance division as well. The commission approved a $1 surcharge on taxi fare and a $10 surcharge on tows to offset gas prices. The charges were adopted in April when the average price of gas was $3.69 a gallon. Since the adoption, gas prices have seen a steady decline leaving Commissioner Blair to ask if the ambulance surcharges were justified or just plain greed. The commission was unable to come to a conclusion on the validity of the surcharge and decided to postpone a judgment and put it on the agenda for next month’s meeting. Since the next month’s meeting was cancelled due to commissioners having previous obligations, the ambulance surcharge will remain in effect for at least two more months.