Long Beach City Council Approves Proposal To Add First-Responder Fee
LONG BEACH (CBSLA.com) — Need medical attention in Long Beach? Well, it could soon cost extra money.
The Long Beach City Council Tuesday night approved a proposal to charge a first-responder fee of $250 for anyone who gets a medical evaluation by the Long Beach Fire Department.
"When we respond an engine or a paramedic unit to a call and we assess and evaluate a patient, we will be charging a $250 first responder fee," said Deputy Chief Rich Brandt of the Long Beach Fire Department. "What that fee is is just some cost recovery for us."
The fee is expected to generate about $1.6 million annually for the general fund and would be charged separately from ambulance transports.
The Long Beach Fire Department says it would bill insurance companies for the charge and would review the fee on a case-by-case basis for those without coverage.
"The last few years, we've cut back and we really can't cut back any further and the budgets are tight right now so we've come up with ways to fill or maybe mitigate those problems a little bit so we don't have to reduce services any further," Brandt said.
The concept isn't new: other counties and cities in California, including Anaheim, have similar charges.
Some Long Beach residents are divided on the issue.
"I think I would have to look at the budget that the Fire Department currently has to do those things to see whether or not there is enough money in the city to do it efficiently," said Don Thornsburg, a Long Beach resident.
"A medical plan goes up. It hurts people's retirements and people today don't have that kind of money," another resident said.
