by Phillip Zema
New Lebanon’s volunteer ambulance service will no longer be part of the Town’s fire department. Both the ambulance service and fire department belong to the Lebanon Valley Protection Agency, which is a volunteer organization. But a current NYS Department of Health regulation claims that volunteer agencies cannot bill for their services. Accordingly, the LVPA’s ambulance service cannot bill health insurance companies, no matter how expensive the cost of transporting patients. Up to now, these bills accounted for roughly 1/4 to 1/3 of its revenue. The ambulance service, consequently, cannot function without these funds.
This problem demands a viable solution, or, in emergencies, ambulances may have to be called in from outside the area even though it could take them over an hour to arrive. Bud Godfroy, a member of the LVPA, suggests that, as of now, it is not likely the Town would take this route. The primary solution is to form an ambulance service that is independent of the LVPA. By doing so, the ambulance would then be permitted to bill for its services. The problem then arises over how to establish this independent ambulance service.
A number of routes could be taken. First, the towns of New Lebanon and Canaan (which is also served by the ambulance system) could lay aside a larger portion of their budgets to fund the ambulance. This route is unattractive for it leads to an increase in local taxes which places an even greater economic burden on the community. Another option is to hire a private ambulance service. But the cost of hiring an independent contractor may be too expensive (perhaps over a thousand dollars per day), and it may also require more tax dollars.
A third alternative is to have a completely volunteer ambulance service. Doing so would be cheaper than hiring a private contractor; yet, as Bud Godfroy, a member of the LVPA, indicated, it is difficult to get enough volunteers to properly field an ambulance crew. It is hard to find people who can contribute the necessary time, and the number of regulations is onerous for a volunteer EMT. Another option is to have a combined volunteer and privately funded ambulance service. This alternative would feature volunteers and paid workers sharing the necessary duties.
Since 1949, the Lebanon Valley Protection Association has been able to provide the community with ambulance services. Its ability to do so may be at an end. Currently, the ambulance service, which is based at New Lebanon’s Fire Hall, may still have enough funding to survive the remaining year – it needs roughly $100K to properly fulfill its duties. But as agreed by members of the LVPA and community, a solution must be arrived at soon, especially before January 1 of next year.
