Seven Maine towns are facing tens of thousands of dollars in additional costs to their budgets for ambulance services, as Northern Light Health said it plans to change its billing system in January.
The health system has notified the towns of Eddington, Etna, Dedham, Dixmont, Glenburn, Kunduskeag, and Newburgh that it will start charging $17 per resident for ambulance services beginning in the new year.
David Bright, the first selectperson for Dixmont, said that will add about $20,000 to the town budget, which residents can't vote on until their annual meeting three months into the year.
"If the service is reliable, and we can get an ambulance when we need it, we're happy to pay for it,” Bright said. "But I can't put it in the budget until the March town meeting."
Currently, Northern Light pays towns a fee for local emergency personnel to respond until an ambulance arrives, then charges the patient's insurance company.
But Kevin Fogarty, operations manager for Northern Light Medical Transport, said that model is no longer sustainable because the cost of providing care has increased.
"And our reimbursement from insurance companies has stayed the same or fallen, and in turn, we are having to come up with that money out of our own budgets," he said.
Fogarty said the towns could call a special meeting to deal with the issue.
