LAFD urged to add fees for 911 calls

The Los Angeles Fire Department could bring in an additional $16 million annually if it changes the way it bills people who call 911 for medical help, according to a new audit.

The 97-page report, issued Tuesday by City Controller Ron Galperin, urges fire officials to develop new ways to recover some of the hundreds of millions of dollars spent each year to provide medical rescues.

Currently, the city only charges 911 callers who are transported to a hospital, and the vast majority of those fees go uncollected. That’s partly due to caps placed on how much the LAFD can charge government insurance programs that fund healthcare for the poor and the elderly, the report said.

The audit recommends that officials consider various changes to billing practices, including new fees for 911 callers who are treated but not taken to a hospital. It also encourages the LAFD to begin collecting money for care given to patients newly covered by insurance plans under President Obama’s healthcare system overhaul.

“We are looking over the horizon at a much broader base of patients with access to health insurance,” Galperin said in a statement. “The extra money we can generate will allow us to enhance services and care.”

Marc Eckstein, an emergency room physician and the LAFD’s medical director, said he would welcome changes to decrease the financial incentive to drive 911 callers to hospitals when they can be better treated at the scene.

But improving the system will require numerous changes in regulations at the federal, state and city levels, Eckstein said.

“It’s not as simple as it sounds,” he said.