Saukville officials approved an increase to ambulance rates citing a need to keep at pace with surrounding communities' rates.
Saukville residents in need of an ambulance will pay a $500 basic call rate, up from $425, according to an Ozaukee Press article. Nonresident rates increase from $500 to $600.
The increase was suggested by LifeQuest, a company that both Saukville and Port Washington work with to handle ambulance billing needs.
Lifequest lists Port's basic rate at $525 for residents and $600 for nonresidents; Port Fire Chief Mark Mitchell said Port's paramedic services might add up to higher costs, depending on the type of service used.
Saukville Fire Chief Gilly Schultz said maintaining similar rates is important because both Port and Saukville might respond to a single accident — transporting members of the same family in the different vehicles — and seeing that rate discrepancy is not an ideal situation, according to the Ozaukee Press article.
I hope they have better resons than this. Am I missing something?
I think trying to "keep up" with Port is a very bad idea. For one, we don't know (or at least we weren't told) how Port calculates their rates. What if their philosophy is "we need to keep $100 ahead of Saukville"? For another, if two family members do wind up getting disparate prices, who do you think they're going to be upset with? Saukville for having a lower price? Ideally (if the Village is going to provide this service), Saukville leaders would settle on how much public money they are willing to spend on this service, and then adjust rates to keep that level constant based on changing costs and recovery rates.