Ambulance fees approved

After ascertaining the progress of the insurance network earlier this month, Pine Haven’s governing body has approved moving forward with setting the ambulance fee schedule as follows: $1000 per transit and $10 per mile between incident and medical facility.

Pine Haven Mayor Karla Brandenburg said of these amounts, “We are way under what [people] are being charged everywhere else.”

The average cost for the service in surrounding municipalities is $1200-$2000 per transit and approximately $30 per mile, according to Jane Merchant, who is setting up the insurance network, and EMS director Dusty Downey.

Historically, the town has not charged patients or their insurance, bearing the incurred costs for the ambulance services from municipal coffers and donations. With rising costs, though, this is not enough.

“Our main goal is to make sure we can keep our ambulance running so, hopefully, this will put us in line to keep our ambulance running,” according to the mayor.

This went into effect November 15, according to Resolution 31.