EMSA's backup plan for this fiscal year should mean patient care and response times are not affected.
Tulsa city councilors rejected Wednesday EMSA's request to hike the rate for ambulance transports from $1,300 to $1,700 for people not subscribed to EMSAcare, a program that covers all out-of-pocket costs for a $5.45 monthly fee.
The increase request was moved up a year as EMSA could pay its attorneys in a federal anti-kickback lawsuit up to $2.4 million.
Executives said the magic number they need to save in order not to affect patient care is $2.1 million. EMSA can more or less get there by spreading the cost of 10 or 11 new ambulances needed this year over three years by waiting to mount the bodies on new chassis and by financing all new cots needed this year rather than paying for them now.
EMSA's cots are out of their warranty period and need to be replaced so the emergency medical service provider doesn't face liability in case a patient using one is injured.
EMSA Chief Financial Officer Kent Torrence said those measures mean they’ll ask for a $550 dollar rate increase next year.
"You haven't eliminated any costs. You've just deferred them," Torrence said. "Now, you've got four years instead of five to pay for the same amount of costs."
Board Chairwoman Jan Slater said part of the problem is EMSA let the city tap utility fee funds earmarked for the agency to the tune of $6.6 million during tough times.
"We don't have a savings account that we have set aside for unexpected costs," Slater said.
Slater told Tulsa city councilors EMSA is not in the same situation in its western district, because Oklahoma City has not tapped into those funds.
Given EMSA’s current legal and financial difficulties, some Tulsa city councilors are wondering if it’s time for the city to take over emergency medical services. Slater said an independent study commissioned by former Mayor Dewey Bartlett found EMSA was the more economical option. The study benchmarked EMSA’s costs against similar cities, like Wichita.
"In no case have they come close to the efficiencies that EMSA has achieved in providing medical service," Slater said. "In fact, many times, their cost for emergency medical service is up to 50 percent greater."
EMSA officials say without a rate increase for ambulance rides next year, they’ll have to renegotiate agreements with their contractors, which could mean longer response times. They estimate the maximum acceptable response time for emergencies like heart attacks would go from 11 minutes to 19.
Tulsa Fire Department, which also responds to such calls, holds itself to the National Fire Protection Association standard of four minutes 90 percent of the time.
