Copyright The Oregonian
Washington County residents will soon be hit by a steep increase in the cost of ambulance rides. The Board of County Commissioners approved the rate hike by its ambulance provider American Medical Response in a 4-1 vote Tuesday. Residents in need of a potentially life-saving ride to the hospital will see a 27% rate hike starting in January. “I will support this rate increase,” said County Chair Kathryn Harrington. “We need to ensure that there is good emergency transportation here in Washington County and this is the only way we are able to act on that vital community need.” Prices for a trip in an advanced life support ambulance will increase from $1,949 to $2,475 plus a per-mile charge, which will jump from $31.18 to $39.59. For basic life support, rates will increase from $1,641 to $2,084, documents show. The $2,475 fee is 42% higher than what the company bills patients for an ambulance ride in Multnomah County. AMR cited increased medical costs, woeful Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates and inefficiencies in the hospital system as some of the reasons why it needs to charge so much more. Not everyone will pay that full price, and private insurance companies will take the brunt of the financial blow, AMR Regional Director Rob McDonald said earlier this month. But many insurance plans require their customers to pay deductibles, which means increased costs could still trickle down to the patient. The lone no vote came from Commissioner Jerry Willey, who said the problems AMR is having can’t be fixed with a rate increase. He pointed out that AMR has been approved for multiple rate increases since 2022, including a 13% hike earlier this year. “No other business that I know gets those kinds of rate increases and still has customers,” Willey said. Washington County approved AMR as its new ambulance provider in 2023, choosing it over local ambulance company Metro West. Since then, AMR has consistently struggled to meet response time requirements set by the county, racking up at least $1.4 million in fines. McDonald assured commissioners earlier this month that those covered by Medicare and Medicaid would not see an increased out of pocket cost. According to the company, around 73% of people charged for for an ambulance ride in the county are covered by Medicare or Medicaid. AMR data shows 17% are privately insured. McDonald also told the board that AMR has launched a “compassionate care” program that will help uninsured residents cover costs. Around 11% of ambulance patients in the county don’t have insurance, according to AMR. County EMS Program Supervisor Adrienne Donner said that part of the reason costs are high is due to “inefficiencies” in the government’s emergency medical response system. Those include redundancies like sending both advanced life support and basic life support ambulances to the same scene and long stays with some patients after reaching the hospital before they are admitted to the emergency room. The rate hike comes after Clackamas County commissioners in August approved a new contract with AMR that more than doubled the cost of a high-emergency ambulance trip. Those prices leapt from $1,676 to $2,245 and will jump again to $3,480 starting in November. Multnomah County maintains the lowest rates for ambulance trips in the Portland area, with patients and insurance companies being billed a flat fee of $1,744 per advanced care ride and $35.91 per mile. Multnomah County spokesperson Sarah Dean said the county does not expect to renegotiate those rates any time soon.
