The volunteer fire and rescue providers thank the residents and many organizations and community groups for opposing the attempt by the county executive to impose an unjust and unwise fee for ambulance service in our county.
We also praise the five County Council members who voted down the proposed regulations: President Philip Andrews, Vice President Roger Berliner and Councilwomen Valerie Ervin, Duchy Trachtenberg and Nancy Navarro.
Free emergency services are a basic governmental service and must remain unimpeded by additional fees. Now more than ever, with many people losing their jobs, more people losing their health insurance coverage and the many who never had health care insurance, we should not remove the safety net created by free ambulance service.
An assertion made by proponents of the fee, and not supported by facts, is that fire and rescue service is underfunded in our county. This is just not true.
The County Council increased funding for the fire and rescue budget between fiscal 2002 and fiscal 2010 from $101.9 million to $193.7 million, an increase of 90 percent. Moreover, the council included funding in the fiscal 2010 budget to purchase 14 new ambulances.
The council also provided $31 million in capital budget funds in 2006 to purchase 71 new fire and rescue vehicles, funded the opening of the West Germantown fire station, and is building another fire station in East Germantown. During the same time, the volunteer departments purchased several ambulances, fire engines and support vehicles amounting to millions of dollars without cost to taxpayers. Contrary to Assistant Chief Scott Graham's statement on the council's rejection of ambulance fees, the fire and rescue service is well-funded, not underfunded ("Ambulance fees halted by council," July 1 article).
The county executive continues to argue that only insurance companies will pay a fee and no resident will pay a fee. Yet a county-commissioned report shows revenue of $1 million-plus from "self pay" transports. At $500 per transport and a collection rate of 10 percent (again, from the county's report), 20,000 people will get some type of bill, and 2,000 will pay each year. Not a single insurance company has said that they would not raise insurance fees if an ambulance fee were instituted. Contrary to claims by the supporters of a fee, there is no reason to think that insurance companies won't pass the cost along to those they insure.
In spite of repeated claims that there is no evidence ambulance fees would discourage some from calling for help when needed, the volunteers showed what occurred in Fairfax County, Va., often used as an example by fee supporters. Fairfax County imposed its fee in 2005. EMS call volume dropped from 2004 to 2005 (when adjusted for population growth) and has remained below 2004 levels to date).
The volunteers have given first-hand accounts where rescuers, from fire chiefs to EMTs, witnessed cases where fees played a role in people refusing ambulance service. In fact, at many public hearings and citizen forums the county heard first-hand accounts where ambulance fees caused people not to call and to drive themselves to the hospital in emergencies. What analyses have been done to show that ambulance fees don't deter at least some calls to 911? The county executive has the obligation to prove with facts, not assumptions, that people won't hesitate to call.
The county already collects a fire tax. There are no guarantees in place to ensure that ambulance fees, or current funding, aren't shifted to the general fund.
In the county, the volunteer service is a crucial part of fire and rescue service and saves taxpayers many millions a year. Unlike many other volunteer fire and rescue services around the nation, we continue to see increase in numbers of people willing to risk their lives for no pay, to help their neighbors and strangers. They have made it clear that an ambulance fee would undermine efforts to continue to have a thriving volunteer component of our county's excellent fire and rescue service.
Are ambulance fees dead? We already hear there will be a continued press to charge for ambulance service. However, we observe that no candidate in the 2006 county elections ran on a platform of bringing ambulance fees to the county. With the council and executive up for re-election in 2010, County Executive Isiah Leggett and those council members who support an ambulance fee, should include it as part of their campaign platform in the 2010 elections because ambulance fees would be a huge policy change for the county and voters should know what they are getting if they elect a candidate before they vote.
Marcine D. Goodloe is president of the Montgomery County Volunteer Fire-Rescue Association; Eric N. Bernard is executive director.
