Ambulance service to charge more for obese patients

[Tincanfireman]

Shawnee County, KS (Topeka, KS area) commissioners have approved rate increases for AMR for patients weighing in excess of 350 lbs. Basic Rate will increase from $629 to $1172 and the per-mile rate will increase from $11.09 to $16.00. ALS fee increases were not disclosed.
Read all about it here.

 

[Sapphyre]

Would be nice if we, the providers would see some of that....

/me still sore from the last bariatric....

 

[Sasha]

Shawnee County, KS (Topeka, KS area) commissioners have approved rate increases for AMR for patients weighing in excess of 350 lbs. Basic Rate will increase from $629 to $1172 and the per-mile rate will increase from $11.09 to $16.00. ALS fee increases were not disclosed.
Read all about it here.

That is almost doube the cost. That's terrible.

 

[Shishkabob]

Double the cost for double the average weight...

 

[Ridryder911]

That is almost doube the cost. That's terrible.

Why? Ever paid for a bariatric unit? Ever pay for workmen's comp? So should everyone else pick up the tab, for the few that choose that style? (before the stoning occurs, yes I know some are medical related but the vast majority is hand mouth syndrome.)

R/r 911

 

[Sasha]

retracted

10

 

[TransportJockey]

Sounds good. I know when I worked IFT the charges went up for obese patients because a lot of time we'd have to get a second unit to give a lift assist (5-600 lb pts)

 

[el Murpharino]

Shawnee County, KS (Topeka, KS area) commissioners have approved rate increases for AMR for patients weighing in excess of 350 lbs. Basic Rate will increase from $629 to $1172 and the per-mile rate will increase from $11.09 to $16.00. ALS fee increases were not disclosed.
Read all about it here.

I don't see a problem with the BLS/ALS rate increase - The extra equipment needed to care for these patients adequately, combined with workman's comp costs and medical costs due to potential back problems legitimize this increase...but why a $5 increase per mile? Sounds to me like they're trying to raise funds somehow, and why not charge extra to obese people if their insurance/medicare/medicaid will foot part/all of the bill?

 

[rmellish]

Sounds like a great idea.

 

[JPINFV]

Would be nice if we, the providers would see some of that....

/me still sore from the last bariatric....

I hope that the fee increase would go to pay for the extra equipment and crews required for such a transport. Provided the proper equipment and crew sizes are used (oversized gurneys with extra hand holds, more than one crew, larger ambulance with either a lift or winch/ramp configuration, etc), I don't see why a bariatric call would be harder on the back. Heck, make bariatric transports a specialty unit with dedicated crews and extra training and pay similar to police or fire specialties (___ taskforce, SWAT, swift water rescue, technical and high angle rescue, etc). Bariatric calls are one of the few reasons I could actually see a real use (i.e. not compensating for undersized pieces of anatomy) for the medium duty ambulances.

 

[daedalus]

The possibility of provider injury goes way up with bariatric type patients, therefore the service must charge more to cover workman comp should something happen.

Welcome to the era of personal responsibility. Rather spend that four dollars for a pack of ciggs over your 4 dollar walmart Rx for your BP? No more ICU care for you. It is coming...

 

[Sasha]

The possibility of provider injury goes way up with bariatric type patients, therefore the service must charge more to cover workman comp should something happen.

Welcome to the era of personal responsibility. Rather spend that four dollars for a pack of ciggs over your 4 dollar walmart Rx for your BP? No more ICU care for you. It is coming...

Health Care is (or should be) a right and not an award for doing what society views as right, ok, unhealthy or healthy.

 

[daedalus]

Health Care is (or should be) a right and not an award for doing what society views as right, ok, unhealthy or healthy.

I know and hear what you are saying, but he way that we are going in America, this is the way it may end up. As most any doctors what they think of my above scenario.

The fact is, fat people should be charged for two plane seats, etc.

 

[Shishkabob]

Health Care is (or should be) a right and not an award for doing what society views as right, ok, unhealthy or healthy.

If it's a personal choice that lead to your current condition, why should others have to pay for the majority of it?

 

[FF-EMT Diver]

Be great if the provider that's killing there back would see some of that extra money.

I think it's a good idea we JUST had this icident occur and had to take another truck out of service for lifting assistance so I definetley think these folks should ante up.

 

[reaper]

If it's a personal choice that lead to your current condition, why should others have to pay for the majority of it?

Well, I will say that I smoke a pack a day and have for 25 years. If I add up all the taxes that the gov has soaked out of me, unfairly, I am entitled to some great healthcare! To bad I pay for my own healthcare, so I will never see the benefit of all those taxes!

 

[medic417]

Well, I will say that I smoke a pack a day and have for 25 years. If I add up all the taxes that the gov has soaked out of me, unfairly, I am entitled to some great healthcare! To bad I pay for my own healthcare, so I will never see the benefit of all those taxes!

But all those taxes won't even come close to paying all the medical expenses later in life incurred because you made the choice to smoke despite all the known risks. And your own healthcare insurance will be gone when you get old and wow I'm supporting you because you screwed up your own health. Completely wrong.

 

[Ridryder911]

Health Care is (or should be) a right and not an award for doing what society views as right, ok, unhealthy or healthy.

Really, I have read the Bill of Right's. I swear I don't see health care anywhere in it? It is a privilage not a right.

Why should I be paying? Just when does one become responsible for themselves? Why should I have to pay for others bad habits?

I realize not all morbidity is r/t just over eating but in comparrision that's the common denominator.

If this was just a rarity, and if a related disease process but for someone to be excess of 400 pounds, 500, 600 pounds + ? When you almost outweigh a vehicle don't you think you maybe ought to start sometype of intervention?

Sorry society is what bases of morays and as well pays for those that can't. Until we can recieve money from somewhere else, I guess we can vote not to be responsible for those unresponsible.

R/r 911

 

[Buzz]

I can understand the increased costs, including the cost per mile. Many of our bariatric patients are transported by two crews. Add on top of that the specialized equipment, injury risk, basic wear and tear on the vehicles, etc. and I can easily understand an increased cost for the heavier patients.

 

[JPINFV]

Do smokers cost society money?

WASHINGTON — Smoking takes years off your life and adds dollars to the cost of health care. Yet nonsmokers cost society money, too — by living longer.

However, smokers die some 10 years earlier than nonsmokers, according to the CDC, and those premature deaths provide a savings to Medicare, Social Security, private pensions and other programs.

Vanderbilt University economist Kip Viscusi studied the net costs of smoking-related spending and savings and found that for every pack of cigarettes smoked, the country reaps a net cost savings of 32 cents.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-04-08-fda-tobacco-costs_N.htm