Billing for PIAA

[JackEMT 77]

I have heard of FD's billing for alarms (especially commercial), but I had not head of this type of billing.

Is this something that has been spreading?

http://wbztv.com/local/quincy.fire.recovery.2.1865674.html

[GAW6 66]

It is not really "billing" per say. It is more like a summons. The first offense is X amount, then the second and third is X amount, etc. The money does not go to the Fire District, the FD notifies the municipality and they send the "bill" and collect the $$$.

At least this is the way it works in the Town of Mount Pleasant.

[PFDRes47cue 653]

It is my understanding that Westport FD in Connecticut bills non residents for MVA's/PIAA's. This is done because residents pay taxes for the services provided by the FD. Non residents obviously do not pay the taxes for the FD so they are billed. Not sure If I am a fan of that or not...

[Guest MajorBuff]

It is not really "billing" per say. It is more like a summons. The first offense is X amount, then the second and third is X amount, etc. The money does not go to the Fire District, the FD notifies the municipality and they send the "bill" and collect the $$$.

At least this is the way it works in the Town of Mount Pleasant.

Is this a new procedure in mt pleasant? i know the vac's have some variation of billing, but never heard of the FD's billing. do they do this for all PIAA? is it billed under No Fault Insurance?

sorry for all the questions, just never heard of this before

[GAW6 66]

Although the title of this thread is "PIAA", the first thread talks about billing for "alarms". That is what I was referencing. Yes, this is allowable in TMP, it is just that not all departments enforce it. As I said, the money goes to the Town, not the FD.

The VACs that are billing in TMP are Valhalla and Sleepy Hollow; Hawthorne can't (Fire District)and Pleasantville chooses not to.

Hope this clears it up for you.

[eagle5473 7]

Can someone explaine to me why an Ambulance service VAC or Commercial can bill in NY, and a Fire based Ambulance can not?

Also No Fault insurance is ONLY for your inj's not for the damge. And Yes it is becomming more common for FD's to bill for service at Auto accidents mostly for billable hazmat stuff, and extrication

[GAW6 66]

I think I can answer your question. Fire Districts are run by Commissioners who set and approve their own budgets. The Towns that they fall under have no say in the FD's budget - the Fire District merely submits their final budget to the Town and the Town collects the tax dollars from the residents. Therefore, in actuality, the sky is the limit. The FD could easily incorporate a paid person(s) into their budget. If they then bill on top of that, this would be "double-dipping".

[Bnechis 3,961]

It is my understanding that Westport FD in Connecticut bills non residents for MVA's/PIAA's. This is done because residents pay taxes for the services provided by the FD. Non residents obviously do not pay the taxes for the FD so they are billed. Not sure If I am a fan of that or not...

Either bill everyone or bill no one. I don't pay property tax in Westport, but do renters? What about store owners (the property owner does), but the store generates tax $$$. If I go into Starbucks, the tax I pay goes to Westport. And federal $$$ go to Westport thru a number of different programs.

[JackEMT 77]

So many questions in regards to this practice, I was just curious if they were setting the trend here.

Who determines "driver's negligent, reckless or malicious actions" ?

Why only bill for PIAA?

Do they bill even for an RMA? There is a chance if you transport, the patient will get a bill from the EMS agency as well as the FD (Quincy contracts out EMS service. I don't know how the billing works, I assume the patient gets a bill from the contracted agency when transported.)

From the article:

"If a driver's negligent, reckless, or malicious actions are determined to have caused the accident, the city will bill that driver's insurance company anywhere between $200 and $600 per hour to help defray the emergency response.

The amount will depend on exactly what equipment has to be sent.

Heavy rescue equipment or a hazardous material clean-up would be the most expensive.

The fees don't apply to fires, or to heart attacks, just car wrecks."

[efdcapt115 1,511]

"If a driver's negligent, reckless, or malicious actions are determined to have caused the accident, the city will bill that driver's insurance company anywhere between $200 and $600 per hour to help defray the emergency response.

The amount will depend on exactly what equipment has to be sent.

Heavy rescue equipment or a hazardous material clean-up would be the most expensive.

The fees don't apply to fires, or to heart attacks, just car wrecks."

So they wait until the victim is collared and boarded, present him with the bill @$600 an hour, pull out the credit card swiper, but the victim goes into cardiac arrest when he sees the bill, so they tear it up while hooking up the defib.

I like it!

[antiquefirelt 994]

So many questions in regards to this practice, I was just curious if they were setting the trend here.

Who determines "driver's negligent, reckless or malicious actions" ?

Why only bill for PIAA?

Do they bill even for an RMA? There is a chance if you transport, the patient will get a bill from the EMS agency as well as the FD (Quincy contracts out EMS service. I don't know how the billing works, I assume the patient gets a bill from the contracted agency when transported.)

From the article:

"If a driver's negligent, reckless, or malicious actions are determined to have caused the accident, the city will bill that driver's insurance company anywhere between $200 and $600 per hour to help defray the emergency response.

The amount will depend on exactly what equipment has to be sent.

Heavy rescue equipment or a hazardous material clean-up would be the most expensive.

The fees don't apply to fires, or to heart attacks, just car wrecks."

I agree 100% that everyone should be billed equally. Maybe surrounding towns could adopt an ordinance billing only Westport residents? After all we must assume they travel outside Westport once in a while.

[jayhalsey 6]

"The fees don't apply to fires, or to heart attacks, just car wrecks."

I wonder what happens if a heart attack causes an accident that then leads to a vehicle fire.