COUNCIL BLUFFS — Beginning April 1, a trip to the hospital in a Council Bluffs Fire Department rescue squad will cost more.
But Fire Chief Alan Byers said the city rate still will be below the national average.
Actual rates are based on the care needed during the transport, Byers said.
At the Basic Care level, which might be a broken ankle, the rate will increase to $550 from $525.
For the Advanced Care level — needing paramedic intervention and/or administration of drugs — the rate will increase to $625 from $600. For the Advanced Care II level that involves the most serious of injuries, such as a traumatic car accident, the rate will increase to $750 from $700.
If a patient is treated at the scene without needing to go to the hospital, the rate will go from $150 to $175.
The mileage fee for taking a patient to a hospital will increase to $11.50 from $11.
The Council Bluffs rates are lower than those charged in Des Moines, Omaha or Lincoln, according to Byers, though slightly higher than in Waterloo, Dubuque and Mason City.
"You have to keep rates affordable for people," Byers said.
However, many can't — and don't — pay due to a lack of money or a lack of health insurance that covers ambulance costs, according to 2011 figures.
Last year, the Fire Department responded to 3,800 calls that required a trip to a hospital, runs that should have generated $2.2 million in revenue. However, only 552 of those calls involved people with health insurance.
Byers estimated that one-third of that $2.2 million would not be collected.
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