Ambulance Fee for Service

King George County will begin charging fees for emergency medical transports on August 1, 2007, but individuals will not see any disruptions in the emergency response services provided by rescue personnel and no one will ever be denied necessary medical transport service due to their inability to pay or a lack of insurance. The difference between service now and beginning on August 1 is that individuals will receive a bill for the ambulance ride.

Compassionate Billing Policy

Most insurance companies, as well as Medicare and Medicaid, have already designated funds in their programs for ambulance transport. However, the County has developed a Compassionate Billing Policy to protect patients who are uninsured or underinsured. Any person receiving ambulance transportation shall be eligible for waiver of fees if the applicant resides in a household having documented income less than the most recent annual median household income $94,274 for King George County, Virginia, as determined by the most recent U. S Census Bureau data.

Fees Charged

The amount of the fees charged will be based on the level of care a patient receives during transport. The fees are based on rates set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Patients who are transported to a hospital or other treatment facility will be billed according to one of the following categories:

Basic Life Support

Services for Basic Life Support shall be medical treatment or procedures provided to a patient as defined by the National Emergency Medicine Services (EMS) Education and Practice Blueprint for the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)-Basic. Amount is $475.

Advanced Life Support Level 1

Services for Advanced Life Support Level 1 shall be medical treatment or procedures provided to a patient beyond the scope of an EMT-Basic as defined by the National EMS Education and Practice Blueprint. Amount is $575.

Advanced Life Support Level 2

Services for Advanced Life Support Level 2 shall be services provided to a patient including any of the following medical procedures:

  • Administration of 3 or more medications
  • Cardiac pacing
  • Central venous line
  • Chest decompression
  • Endotracheal intubation
  • Intraosseous line
  • Manual defibrillation/cardioversion
  • Surgical airway

Amount is $800.

Ground Transport Fee

$12 per statute mile from the location of the incident scene, or from the center point of the emergency demand zone, if applicable, where an incident scene or address is located, to a hospital or other facility where a patient is transported.

Outstanding Balances

In some cases, Medicaid, Medicare and insurance companies will pay only a portion of the bill. Patients with this coverage will not be required to pay any outstanding balances. King George residents who pay taxes will not be billed for co-pays and/or deductibles for ambulance service.

Insured patients who are residents of King George County, Virginia, are not responsible for any ambulance transport service fees not paid by their insurance carrier or carriers. All other patients are responsible for ambulance transport service fees not paid by their insurance carrier or carriers unless otherwise waived as provided in the Compassionate Billing section.

Patients are not responsible for any amount of the ambulance transport service fees adjusted by insurance carriers as result of state or federal regulations or by agreement with King George County.

Additional Information

For more information about the Ambulance Fee for Service Program, please call the Emergency Services Department at 540-775-8900 or visit our Ambulance Fee For Service Documents section.