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Subscription is open to residents, visitors and employees in the Potter, Gregg, Penn, Miles, Haines Townships, Centre Hall and Millheim Boroughs. Our current charges for a Basic Life Support (BLS) emergency call averages $650.00 per trip. Penns Valley EMS uses a Third Party Billing Company to bill health or automotive insurance companies.
Third Party billing is a program that provides reimbursement for ambulance services. The reimbursement is based on services rendered to patients before the patient reaches the hospital. Penns Valley EMS submits claims to your insurer if you need to use our emergency ambulance service. If you have Medicare or other insurances, you should still subscribe because your insurance may not cover the entire bill. Therefore, even with insurance, you may have to pay a portion of the bill out of pocket. In the event that your insurance carrier only pays for a portion of the charges, you are responsible for the balance. However, as a subscriber, if the insurance company only pays for part of the claim, THE SUBSCRIBER IS NOT CHARGED ANYTHING FURTHER.
Your subscription covers the BLS charges only. Advanced Life Support (ALS) charges, if needed, are not covered. ALS is provided by Mt Nittany Medical Center or Centre Lifelink EMS. As of March 24, 2007, Evangelical Hospital is no longer the primary provider of ALS services.
Checks sent to you, the subscriber, that are for payment for ambulance services provided to you should be endorsed on the back and mailed immediately to:
Evangelical Community Hospital
Attention: Billing Office
One Hospital Drive
Lewisburg, PA 17837.
While the majority of our revenue comes from Third Party billing, the money received from subscriptions is our next largest source of income. This enables us to purchase new equipment and maintain our ambulance vehicles much more effectively. The subscription provides the residents and businesses an opportunity to assist us in equipping our four ambulances with the finest equipment available.
Many changes have occurred in the health care industry in recent years that have directly impacted the ambulance service that we have been providing. Penns Valley EMS provides emergency pre-hospital care and ambulance transportation of patients to hospital emergency care units for residents and visitors to our community. At the present time Penns Valley EMS does not own or operate a wheelchair or stretcher van for transport of non-emergency ambulatory (capable of walking or transport by wheelchair or stretcher van) patients. This type of transport is NOT included in your membership. Examples: Direct admission from home to hospital, transportation home from hospital, from hospital to rehab facility, or visits to doctor’s office. However, non-emergency transport services that are deemed “Medically Necessary” by a physician are covered and provided based on availability of staff and equipment. Subscribers are responsible for payment of any and all charges for non emergency services rendered in good faith by the ambulance service but are later determined to be a non-covered service or denied by the subscriber’s insurance carrier for any reason.
Penns Valley EMS, like other volunteer organizations, has been struggling to find people to volunteer their time. Therefore as of Sept 1 2004, we have added on paid staff to better serve the community. The ambulance is staffed by a paid crew from 6:30 AM until 6:30 PM. We still rely on volunteers to staff the ambulance when a second ambulance is needed during the daytime and for over night. This expenditure has placed great burden on our budget, but was needed to provide the community with the service that is expected from us.
Types of Subscriptions include Household, and Individual. A Household membership includes the head of household, spouse, co-inhabitants of a single residence and dependent persons living at the residence requiring emergency medical care for a fee of $45.00. An individual membership includes a person living in a single residence requiring emergency medical care for a fee of $30.00.
*This program is not an insurance product and this is not an offer for the sale of an insurance policy. This offer is not applicable to Medical Assistance recipients. Subscription is not a contract for the provision of emergency or non-emergency services at any specific time, and all services are subject to availability. Services may be provided by a mutual aid service during period in which Penns Valley EMS may be unavailable and Penns Valley EMS assumes no responsibility for the charges of such substitute providers, including Advanced Life Support services. Terms of PennsValleyEMS membership program may be subject to changes without prior notice.