IA Fire Dept. Decreasing Ambulance Fees

Ambulance rates for the Newton Fire Department are set to decrease in July.

A .5 percent decrease was approved by city council to keep rates aligned with Medicare rates, a major funding source for ambulance services.

“To establish the rates, the city looked at Wellmark, the largest insurance provider that reimburses the department for services,” city administrator Bob Knabel said.

Wellmark’s scheduled rate is based on a factor of 1.7 times the established Medicare rate.

In the six major categories of ambulance service, basic life support non-emergency, basic life support emergency, advanced life support non-emergency, advanced life support emergency, advanced life support level 2 and specialty care transport, a reduction of rates range from $5 to $1 per service. 

Charges start at $369 for BLS non-emergency and increase to $590 for BLS emergency. ALS non-emergency services start at $443 with an increase to $701 for ALS emergency.

ALS 2 services cost $1,015 and SCT rates will be $1,199.

The expected Wellmark reimbursement for each service covers approximately 97 percent of the costs leaving out of pocket payments between approximately $10 and $45.

Medicare rates cover less than insurance but still pick up more than half of the costs. Patients would have to pay approximately $160 to $519 depending on the service.

Mileage charges, which are defined as per loaded mile, will not change from the 2015 rate of $12 per mile. With the reduction of rates, Newton Fire Chief Jarrod Wellik does not see a significant impact on the department’s finances.

“It will have virtually no effect on the revenues,” Wellik said. “If you applied it to the $800,000 in total revenue it would be around $4,000 difference.”

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or [email protected]

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