It’s not a simple billing problem

To the editor:

Tusten Volunteer Ambulance Service (TVAS) entered into a contractual agreement on January 1, 1997 with Wayne Memorial Hospital to provide Advanced Life Support (ALS) services. On May 13, 2002 Wayne Memorial Hospital discontinued ALS service and assigned this contract to Honesdale EMS.

I met with Sharon Gumpper on two occasions in May or June of 2002 at her office and expressed an interest in negotiating a new agreement to deal with specific issues concerning working conditions. I was informed by Gumpper that her lawyers were working on a contract, and that we would have input into it. These two meetings were followed by several calls to her office in an attempt to sit down and discuss certain issues in negotiating a contract. Each call was met with the same response, “Our lawyers are working on it.” 

On or about July 12, 2002, I received a copy of a 10-page contract proposed by Honesdale EMS (with no input from TVAS). While we had no problem with the financial or billing sections of the contract, we did have concerns with other issues that may adversely affect the volunteer service. 

On August 16, 2002, I received a letter from Gumpper stating, in part, that on September 15, 2002 they would begin billing patients directly if no agreement was signed by then.

On September 13, 2002, I forwarded a copy of a proposed contract to Gumpper for their consideration. Her response was that the “proposal was a liability”.

Contrary to Gumpper’s statements, TVAS has not refused to enter into a contract with Honesdale EMS; rather we refused to sign one specific proposal which we felt would not be in the best interest of our volunteer service or, more importantly, in the best interest of the patients we serve. 

The facts are simple: TVAS had a contract with Wayne Memorial Hospital, which was assigned to Honesdale EMS. Honesdale EMS chose to violate the terms of this contract and began billing patients directly. TVAS was willing to continue to work with this contract until a mutual agreement could be reached. 

TVAS is, in fact, still working diligently to enter into a contract with one of several different ALS services in the area to provide quality and affordable ALS. Hopefully an agreement will be reached in the next several months, if not weeks.

I can assure everyone that TVAS will continue to work to provide quality and affordable care and transportation to the people we serve.

George Banta, President TVAS
Beach Lake, PA

To the editor:

I write to correct Ms. Gumpper’s misreading of my letter regarding paramedic costs being passed to patients.

In that letter I wrote that “your Tusten EMT... will always advise accepting paramedic care when they believe it will help you.” How Ms. Gumpper got from this statement to her assertion that my “focus is to dissuade the public from utilizing paramedic services” was a journey entirely of her own devising.

Ms. Gumpper correctly states, “Paramedic care is ultimately not required in some cases.” It was my intent to inform our community that in those cases they have the option to decline such care.

The solution to the billing problem is, of course, for Tusten Volunteer Ambulance Service to conclude a billing agreement with a provider of paramedic services, such as Honesdale EMS. To blame the other party for the impasse in reaching an agreement, as Ms. Gumpper does in her letter, does not represent such a solution.

Francis Cape, member TVAS
Narrowsburg, NY

To the editor:

The intention of a recent letter to the editor written by Tusten Volunteer Ambulance Service (TVAS) member, Francis Cape, was to address a recurring problem of people in our community receiving bills from Honesdale EMS. We, at TVAS, have received numerous phone calls from people who have been told by Honesdale EMS that the reason they are getting these bills is because TVAS has no contract with Honesdale.

The plain and simple fact is that people are being billed by Honesdale EMS, a paid ambulance service, for paramedic services that were provided during the transport to the hospital by TVAS. These bills are not covered by insurance due to the issue of bundling, the submitting of both bills together to the insurance carrier, an issue which Francis Cape explained.

It is, and always has been, the intent, of TVAS to provide quality emergency care and transportation to the closest appropriate medical facility without delay. The best interest of the patient is always foremost. If the patient’s condition warrants Advanced Life Support (ALS), we will request the closest available unit to respond to provide treatment to the patient while enroute to the hospital. Whenever there is any question whether ALS could benefit the patient, paramedics are called. On occasion, paramedics are dispatched to calls for which ALS is unnecessary, or the patient refuses such treatment. In these cases the ALS unit is cancelled and can remain in service, available in the event of a life-threatening call somewhere else in the coverage area. Honesdale ALS is located approximately 12 miles from Tusten, which limits their availability in a truly life-threatening emergency. In order to provide better ALS service to our communities, TVAS is actively pursuing several possibilities to locate an ALS unit here in our community to provide prompt, quality care that will not cause financial hardship to our patients.

Kathy Michell, captain TVAS
Narrowsburg, NY