Column: Ambulance service negotiations continue
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Recent posts
Wow, the way they are dealing with the ARC commission, Gibson and Coker must have color photos of Hardie Davis, Fire Chief Burden, Sammie Sias, Ben Hasan, Bobby Williams, Jordan Johnson, Tony Lewis, Stacy Pulliam, Francine Scott, and Wayne Brown at a Dump Gold Cross meeting in Tijuana, Mexico. Between the ambulance service and the IRS, this is really going to hurt.
That man said rational minds can work together lmao He must be working with another commission. They thought Gold Cross was high but i get the feeling someone is really fixing to see what high is.
I have to tell you..tax payers of Augusta should beware anytime anyone negotiated with the city and uses the term “transparency” hold onto your wallets and get the lube out..
CENTRAL EMS begins ambulance service May 8, without a contract and never gets a contract. Sound familiar? CENTRAL EMS then gives up the zone and Augusta applies for the zone again. Here we go again.
Whatever happened to a time honored “bid” for a service? Never heard of “selling a house but I will tell buyer after closing what is the contract price for my house.” …. and I thought city operated with RFP = Request for Proposal.
I am getting really sick and tired of this ambulance fiasco!
Be careful what you ask for, you might get it ARC.
Just remember how much ambulance service could have been paid for. Instead we are paying IRS penalties and interest. Even if we demand the salaries be returned for services not provided from incompetent staff it would be a drop in the bucket.
What items will be cut from the budget to pay the IRS?
ARC should let only Dennis Williams negotiate , I remember Moses Todd making the statement . When Dennis Williams had the courage to abstain on the Gold Cross contract , he saved the ARC taxpayers millions.
Sign the check; then, drop your pants and close your eyes, for you, I have a big surprise!
Augusta is under no obligation to pay any ambulance provider that holds the zone designation. Just like Gold Cross, Central asked for the zone and got it. It was their business decision knowing the market. Augusta may pay Central for indigent patients, but should not subsidize for those who won’t pay. Asking for a 10% profit takes out all of the risk in any contract Central signs. Profits should be based on performance, not percentages.
Like it or not, this is the bed that the Commissioners have made, and so ALL TAXPAYERS will have to lay in it. The indigent/non-insured/under-insured do not pay taxes, so it is no skin off of their nose. What you have in Central EMS is a company that is governed by an Investment Company. While Central EMS is in the “business” of Emergency Services, this is an “investment” to their “Daddies”. I think the 10% is a little bold, given the current market conditions we are experiencing. Based upon our current Federal Government actions, none of MY investments are returning 10%. I WISH.
I have a methodology to address the “no-pay” problem, and I was ready to share, but no one in authority has approached me to discuss. It WOULD require inter-departmental/inter-agency cooperation to make it work, but it would address a piece of the puzzle that is providing targeted appropriate EMS to the citizens.
I stand corrected on my above statement the perfect person I’m not , the Moses Todd sponsor is Bobby Williams .
This ambulance fiasco is going to cost a lot more to Richmond County taxpayers than if they had come to terms with Gold Cross. Anyone that thinks differently has their head in the sand. Between this mess, the IRS fines and the 7 million to assist a “director” incapable of performing his job, the city will be lucky to escape bankruptcy. Better yet, the citizens will be taxed to death and recipients of minimal services.
Any ambulance company who believes they are dealing with a straight shooting , no hidden agenda, Augusta counsel is in for some BIG DISSAPPOINTMENTS!!
Central does not realize who they are trying to deal with. I think they are in for a real awakening.
If the “Investment” does pan out for them, they will relinquish the Zone, and move out to a more “professionally” run municipality. They can move OUT, just as easily as they say they can move IN.
Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) covers ground ambulance transportation when traveling in any other vehicle could endanger your health, and you need medically necessary services from a hospital, critical access hospital, or skilled nursing facility. I think Part B requires a 20% copay. House Bill 271 of the 2021-2022 regular session of the Georgia Assembly authorized the Department of Community Health (DCH) to develop an assessment program for the purpose of funding the state share of Medicaid supplemental payments for ambulance providers. The legislation authorizes DCH to implement the assessment program on a subset of ambulance services, and DCH intends to implement the assessment program for privately owned (private) ground ambulance providers. Participation in the assessment program by private ground ambulance providers is mandatory in accordance with House Bill 271.
Has anyone in ARC government investigated whether Medicare and/or Medicaid will pay for all or some of the non-paying ambulance users’ bills?
Maybe someone can contact the makers of Vaseline and get a group discount on large purchases…