The Board of Directors, volunteers, and staff of the Coudersport Volunteer Ambulance Association (CVAA) and the Coudersport Regional Advanced Life Support (ALS) have been hard at work to posture our agency to better respond to your needs and the needs of the community it covers.
We reviewed our current joint billing agreement (contract) this year and have determined that certain changes were required to effectively deliver advanced emergency medical services (ALS) to the community. There are a lot of requirements and increased expenses including numerous medications and advanced equipment that go into ensuring that we can provide ALS (paramedic) services when called upon. Our ALS coverage operates 24/7 to provide advanced care to patients in emergency medical situations throughout Potter County and surrounding counties.
This year, our ALS organization proposed an agreement that would allow for joint billing with each local ambulance company. Thus meaning, CVAA would provide ALS services in support of the local ambulance services in your area, and in return, the local transporting ambulance service would bill the patient’s provided health insurance company for payment of all services, all in one bill submission. In conjunction to this, the Coudersport ALS (owned by CVAA) would then either submit an invoice to the local ambulance service for an agreed upon fixed charge that is set at an agreed amount per intercept call (which is lower than the rate charged to the patient directly for ALS services without the agreed contract). The billing agreement also gave the option for a reasonable split payment after fees are collected from a joint billing company. The local ambulance service (BLS) would keep a larger portion of the payment received and the ALS would acquire the remaining balance paid by insurance.
The joint billing agreements were incorporated to benefit the local patients serviced by providing a mechanism in which major health insurers, including the government, would be able to pay for BOTH the BLS transporting agency services and our ALS services without risking non-coverage or insurance denials. This would also include members with memberships to local ambulance companies, as they would be covered by the agreement and not have an out-of-pocket expense for ALS service charges.
Joint billing agreements/contracts were addressed at multiple county emergency service council meetings and sent out to each local ambulance association across the entire Potter County, portions of Tioga County, as well as McKean and Cameron Counties, that we currently service for ALS. Final correspondence was set for May 1, 2024.
Starting June 1, 2024, if we do not have an agreement/contract on file with your local ambulance service, we will be removing our ALS (paramedic services) from the initial 911 dispatch for that coverage area. Tioga County 911 coordinator is aware of these possible actions.
If your local BLS service declines this contract, additional steps must be made to request our ALS for an additional resource for patient care. After a BLS crew has made a patient assessment on scene, then they may request for an additional resource of ALS, then our ALS may respond if available. Remember this could delay proper patient care, and the local BLS services are also aware of this decision.
If requested for ALS services, we will be forced to directly send a bill to the patient being rendered care. These patients would be reliable to pay for ALS coverage services out-of-pocket, which would amount to a fixed fee ranging from $600.00 to $650.00 per ALS service rendered. This fee may increase at any time. Without these joint billing agreements, it places patients in an untenable financial position, as ALS claims typically are NOT covered by insurance when billed separately therefore the patient is then responsible for the entire ALS service billed. Insurnace companies only pay the claim submitted by the transporting agency so essentially without a joint billing agreement (joint claim) the claims would have to be billed separately.
We encourage all residents to contact your local Ambulance Associations and municipalities if you have any comments, questions, or concerns about their final decision and if an agreement has been contracted. We would also like to give our thanks to Shinglehouse Ambulance for their continued dedication towards our ALS services. You may also contact the Coudersport Volunteer Ambulance Association, the Coudersport Regional Advanced Life Support EMS Manager or Board of Directors if you have questions about the proposed contracts.
