Billing

NAVAC is a volunteer ambulance service.  Why do they charge for services?

What NAVAC does and how we do it is much different today than in 1970.

The number of requests for emergency assistance has grown from 500 to almost 7,000 calls each year.  Originally, NAVAC could serve our community's needs by staffing one ambulance 24 hours a day with volunteers.  Today we need to staff four ambulances during the day, three in the evening, and two overnight.  At the same time, it is harder for people to be available to volunteer their time to meet the many needs of EMS.

In 1989 NAVAC realized that we had to adapt so as to keep responding to emergencies.  It was then that NAVAC began to evolve from being totally volunteer to being an EMS service that services its community with both career and volunteer personnel.

Emergency medical response has changed dramatically since 1970.  Today we bring the emergency room to the patient.  Our equipment is more sophisticated and medical care is more complicated.  Sophisticated equipment and complicated treatment means training and equipment are more expensive.  NAVAC at one time could survive on donations of equipment and supplies.  Hospitals used to resupply us after each call; now we need to purchase those supplies ourselves.

More calls, more expensive equipment, complicated training, and fewer volunteers have led to our need to bill for the services that are provided to you.

As one of three public safety services - police, fire, and EMS - isn't NAVAC supported by my tax dollars?

Unlike fire departments and law enforcement agencies, ambulance services can take many different forms; the most common are non-profit organizations, commercial businesses, fire department-operated, village or town operated, county-operated, police department operated, and hospital-operated.

In Central New York most EMS agencies bill for their services.  We at NAVAC get 85% of our income from charges for our services.  An additional 12% comes from donations from people like you, and the final 3% comes from town subsidies - the Town of Salina assists its town residents who are transported to the hospital and the Town of Cicero gives NAVAC a stipend.  This municipal support helps but does not fill the gap.

NAVAC would surely benefit from increased donations.  This would mean better and more modern equipment, as well as more intensive training for your EMS providers.

How much does it cost for an ambulance to come to my aid?

A May 2007 Government Accountability Office report confirms what NAVAC has been experiencing.    

NAVAC does almost 7,000 calls each year in a suburban and rural area.  These calls require highly skilled health care providers (paramedics) who use sophisticated equipment. All of this costs about $420 for each call.  Medicare pays about $300.  Medicaid pays half of what Medicare pays!  So EMS services are in dire need to make up the difference so as to assure getting the right people with the right tools in the right period of time to your side.

I Have a Questions about My Bill

Billing for health care services, including emergency medical services, is complicated in this day and age.  NAVAC employs a company, MultiMed, to manage the process of submitting claims to third-party payers and ultimately billing our customers for the appropriate co- payments, deductibles, and non-covered charges.

** Please refer any questions about our charges, payments, and explanations of benefits to **
MultiMed at 315-635-1789 or 800-927-5845.