Comments on: Thursday…State/county ambulance service now a “nonparticipating provider”, and is a Hawaiian Electric-Hawaiian Telcom merger possible? http://ilind.net/2008/07/10/thursdaystatecounty-ambulance-service-now-a-nonparticipating-provider-and-is-a-hawaiian-electric-hawaiian-telcom-merger-possible/ Ian Lind • Online daily from Kaaawa, Hawaii Tue, 14 Feb 2012 05:21:33 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Swerve of Shore http://ilind.net/2008/07/10/thursdaystatecounty-ambulance-service-now-a-nonparticipating-provider-and-is-a-hawaiian-electric-hawaiian-telcom-merger-possible/comment-page-1/#comment-816 Swerve of Shore Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:31:42 +0000 http://ilind.net/?p=542#comment-816 What struck me about the Advertiser's story about the fees for ambulance service is that the state, until now, has been charging the ten percent or so of the population who have no health insurance considerably more for ambulance service than they charge those of us fortunate enough to be insured. The uninsured include the unemployed; many people working less than 20 hours per week; those who work at several jobs, none of which quality them for health insurance through their employer; and many self-employed people. Most of the uninsured, then, are not flush with money, yet the state has been charging them as much as 59% more for for ambulance service than they charge those of us who have insurance. It's unfortunate that we insured will have to pay more now, but I believe the state is right to stop giving us preferential rates at the expense of the uninsured. Since insurance companies like HMSA pay only 80% of the state's current charges for ambulance services, with individuals paying the other 20%, the state apparently already is in the business of collecting a portion of the fees for its ambulance service. That should make it easier for them to ramp up their collection operations to collect the entire fee. One thing our health insurance companies do that benefits us as members is to negotiate contracts with providers for lower fees, as the insurance companies, up until now, have done with the state for ambulance service. The problem with this system is that the uninsured are stuck paying whatever fee the provider decides to charge. Clearly, we need a health system that makes high quality health care available at a reasonable price to every last individual in our society. What struck me about the Advertiser’s story about the fees for ambulance service is that the state, until now, has been charging the ten percent or so of the population who have no health insurance considerably more for ambulance service than they charge those of us fortunate enough to be insured. The uninsured include the unemployed; many people working less than 20 hours per week; those who work at several jobs, none of which quality them for health insurance through their employer; and many self-employed people. Most of the uninsured, then, are not flush with money, yet the state has been charging them as much as 59% more for for ambulance service than they charge those of us who have insurance. It’s unfortunate that we insured will have to pay more now, but I believe the state is right to stop giving us preferential rates at the expense of the uninsured.

Since insurance companies like HMSA pay only 80% of the state’s current charges for ambulance services, with individuals paying the other 20%, the state apparently already is in the business of collecting a portion of the fees for its ambulance service. That should make it easier for them to ramp up their collection operations to collect the entire fee.

One thing our health insurance companies do that benefits us as members is to negotiate contracts with providers for lower fees, as the insurance companies, up until now, have done with the state for ambulance service. The problem with this system is that the uninsured are stuck paying whatever fee the provider decides to charge. Clearly, we need a health system that makes high quality health care available at a reasonable price to every last individual in our society.

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