DENVER — A bill aimed at closing out-of-network billing gaps for people who need an ambulance is slated for it's first hearing Tuesday in the Colorado House of Representatives Health and Human Services Committee.
When you call 911, you don't get a choice on what ambulance service responds. Todd Heinl, division chief of EMS with West Metro Fire Rescue, said he doesn't want a patient worried about money during one of the most vulnerable times of their life.
"So we're just asking insurance carriers to stop treating them as out-of-network as if the patient can decide and provide fair reimbursement," Heinl said.
For perspective, Heinl estimates an average ambulance bill for a patient to be around $1,500.
Currently, he said public ambulance providers like fire departments, bill the patient's insurance. However if the provider is out-of-network, the insurance decides what they want to pay.
Heinl said that's not usually the full amount. Then the patient gets the remaining balance.
"As a provider, we are patient advocates first and foremost. And our patient advocacy does not end when we stop treating the patient. It continues on to you know how they're billed for that service to ensuring sustainability of EMS throughout Colorado, including our rural areas," Heinl said.
He said the bill would protect patients from "balanced billing" and require insurance to either provide better reimbursement pr pay the ambulance provider their locally set rates.
"We're only charging half of what it costs us, and then having to subsidize the rest through taxpayer or tax funding. We're just asking these commercial payers to pay the amount we're charging, and that's all so we don't put the onus on the patient who's at their most vulnerable," Heinl said.
The argument from the insurance side is that it could to increase people's premiums.
There have been similar efforts like this to protect patients in the past. In fact, Denver7 has followed this issue since 2021.
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