OTTAWA — The cost of a ride in a Franklin County ambulance could soon go up. At Monday’s county meeting, EMS director Nick Robbins asked commissioners to consider raising rates at Wednesday’s county meeting. Franklin County EMS takes some steep discounts in its reimbursements, he told commissioners. Franklin County rates are among the lowest in the area, he said. However, because of the federal government reimbursements, the service must write off 70 percent of its Medicaid billings, and write off 33 percent of most of its Medicare billings, he said. The service often must write 21 percent of its billings through private insurance, he said.. “We need to adjust rates annually to get Medicaid and Medicare to increase those reimbursements as much as possible because that’s how they base it,” he said. The biggest increase was for emergency runs requiring advanced care. That price would go from $525 to $575. The per-mile charge would go from $12 to $14.
Tuesday, Sept. 25, 4 p.m.
