Likely for the first time since taking over the ambulance service in July 2009, the Cole County Commission in March approved increased rates for some service calls.
Thanks to a combination of those new rates and increased call volume, revenue has increased.
Ambulance Service Director Jerry Johnston had told the Cole County Commission he would propose increasing rates again for 2018, and at Tuesday's commission meeting he laid out his proposal.
For basic ambulance transport, generated by a 911 call, the charge would go from $850 to $1,050. For a non-911 call, usually a transport to the hospital, the cost would go from $750 to $950.
Transport of patients who are bed- or wheelchair-bound from hospitals to nursing homes or other facilities would go from $500 to $550.
Mileage costs would rise from $15 to $20 per mile for all calls. Standby service - where an ambulance and crew are required to be at an event such as a high school football game - would increase to $130 an hour.
Prior to this year, the county had been charging more for the calls the ambulance service answers least and had not kept up with the charges for calls answered most frequently, compared to other ambulance services in the area.
Barring anything unusual, Johnston said, this is the last of the catch-up rate increases that need to be done. Any increases next year should be more in line with usual medical services pricing increases, he said.
"Keep in mind that 55 percent of the population has Medicaid and/or Medicare, and those will only pay so much on the basic charges and mileage costs," Johnston said. "I'm trying to grow the budget while reducing reliance on the EMS tax."
Commissioners could make a decision on the rates at a meeting Aug. 31. Johnston said he based much of his budget requests for next year using the new rates, but said adjustments could be made if the commission decided not to increase rates in 2018.