I disagree. These corporations have computer programs which track expenses. Ambulance fees are part of expenses. Not the biggest part, but not very, very, very, very small either. I would assume that they look at total expenses, add overhead and profit, and adjust premiums accordingly. Unless you are an industry insider, (god forbid) I doubt that you could prove your point, any more than I could come up with the empirical evidence to prove mine, but let’s try some more common sense.

Stephen Hemsley, CEO of United Health, has amassed a fortune of 3/4 of a billion dollars in just the last 5 years. It would be naive to assume that people like him have become as rich as they are, by being stupid businessmen. Charging a profit for services is not inherently wrong. The problem is that these corporations should not exist. Profit should not be part of the equation when it comes to health care.

What is inherently wrong with these corporations that should not exist, is they’re denying claims for every reason they can think of, and denying coverage due to a previous condition, and rescinding policies when they are no longer profitable. If Trumansburg begins billing, I’m sure residents will experience denial of claims.

United Health announced 5 billion in profit last year. That’s 5 billion that they collected in premiums, that did not go toward paying for health care. Medicare collects no profit. How can you justify the existence of United Health? How can you justify Trumansburg becoming part of this system? We have an efficient single payer system like Medicare. We have a socialized system like the Veterans Administration. Both of these systems score higher in patient satisfaction, than do the private health insurance corporations.

Many people complain that they shouldn’t have to pay for the Tburg ambulance in their taxes because they already are paying for this in their insurance premiums. I know it isn’t fair. There’s lots of things in life that are not fair. These people say that the insurance companies are getting a free ride, and that they should pay every time the ambulance rolls. They think that we’ll show them – bill ‘em! What they don’t realize is that these corporations want you to bill them. If people didn’t bill them they’d go out of business. They are in the business of paying just enough claims that we don’t storm the Bastille, then they add profit and bill us right back in the form of premiums.

But these are just the pocketbook reasons that we shouldn’t go to billing. The morale reasons are the most compelling. If we go to billing, someone, someday soon, is going to refuse help, for fear of the bill, and they will die.

“EMT supporter” above suggested that perhaps the increasing cost/decreasing volunteers had to do with low morale as a result of a certain Village trustee’s inability to listen. Good point. Maybe it’s time for Debbie Notke to take on that task. She has years of experience as a nurse in the ER of Cayuga Medical Center. Maybe she’s a little more empathetic.

Over the last decade, employer-sponsored health insurance premiums have increased 119 percent.
http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml
You imply that premiums are being kept under control by courageous advocates for the people at the Office of the Inspector General. It kind of looks like these corporations are raising their rates as fast as they think the market will bear.

The profit ratio of these corporations is climbing as fast as their premiums. Are you telling me that the Inspector General will approve a rate hike which increases their profit, but deny a rate increase to cover an actual expense?

I doubt that these corporations would cooperate if I tried to collect the evidence that you want to see, but a little common sense and a look at the trend lines is all you really need.

Is the Trumansburg Board of Trustees really about to throw these people out on the curb, just to save $5 a month per resident?!?

The middle of an economic recession, when the country is in the middle of an unresolved push for health care reform, is the absolute worst time to try to privatize the ambulance service.

Divide that into 12 months, and it’s $4.41. And this is supposed to be a crisis? A crisis of paying less than 5 dollars a month for ambulance service?

It seems to me that the people who favor privatizing our community ambulance service have some kind of ideological axe to grind.