Although Culpeper County will begin billing insurance companies on Oct. 1 for rescue-squad transports, officials yesterday made it clear that no one will be turned down for service because they can't pay.
"Only [patients'] insurance companies will pay," Emergency Services Director Tom Williams told the Board of Supervisors. "Patients will not be expected to pay out of their own pockets or denied transport to a hospital."
The county went to 24-hour-a-day paid ambulance service Sept. 1. Billing insurance companies for transports will help offset the costs, Williams said.
The EMS director added that volunteer rescue squads will not be charging for emergency transports, at least not for now.
"They can piggy-back with us, but most companies have said they don't want to charge because they fear it might cut down on donations," Williams said.
The supervisors yesterday approved awarding a contract to Diversified Billing Inc. of Virginia Beach. Williams' office will forward transport to Diversified on a daily basis and that company will be responsible for seeking payment from patients' insurance companies.
Supervisor Bill Chase, fearing that poor patients might hesitate to call for emergency services, said he wanted to make sure that the public was aware that no one would be turned down.
Board Vice Chairman Steve Nixon said he wasn't sure that all residents were even aware that the county had gone to a 24-hour paid ambulance service.
"That's a monumental step for the county," he said.
Chairman John Coates said that 24-hour-a-day service was not a smack at volunteer rescue squads.
"Those volunteers do a great job but many of them work out of the county," he said. "Sometimes they are just not able to answer calls."
The Board of Supervisors also voted to pay $124,226 to purchase a new ambulance to be used by paid emergency personnel. A state grant will fund $42,000 of the cost.
In other business:
Supervisors voted to send letters to Culpeper's state and federal representatives asking for guidance concerning undocumented immigrants.
"We need to find out just what localities can do about this," said Supervisor Sue Hansohn.
Chase said that there are community concerns that there may be as many as 600 undocumented immigrant children in the county school system. The School Board estimates it spends about $8,400 per student.
"This is not about race; this is a matter of fairness," said Supervisor Bradley Rosenberger. "[Undocumented immigrants are] not fair to people who have gone through the naturalization process."
"What we're trying to do is look for a tracking system," Coates said.
The board's action came at the recommendation of the Town/County Interaction Committee. The Culpeper Town Council is expected to take action on the issue at its meeting next Tuesday.
County Treasurer David DeJarnette, in his yearly report, told supervisors that only about 3 percent of real-estate tax bills from last year were still delinquent, a record low.
"It looks like we're going to match that this year," he said.
To reach DONNIE JOHNSTON:
Email: djohnston@freelancestar.com