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being covered by “increases in reimbursements from Medicare, Medicaid or commercial insurers or from increases in local and state funding.”

Fluctuations in the market have also had an impact on EMS costs. This is illustrated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services amending its payment policies to correspond to the percentage increase in the consumer price index for all consumers, according to the organization The result of that equation is referred to as the “Ambulance Inflation Factor” (AIF), which, in 2023, is at its highest point in the last 20 years at 8.7%. This is a stark increase from the 2022 AIF of 5.1%, making this “the single-largest year-over-year increase on record.”

Provided | City surance. This is especially relevant to Fort Wright due to the number of “mutual aid” calls received.

In Fort Wright, the proposed new fee schedule would apply only to emergency and non-emergency services related to medicine and transportation. The city’s rate for oxygen use has stayed the same, as has its rate for defibrillation, extrication and use of bag-valve masks.

Section 96.01 of Fort Wright’s Code of Ordinances requires that “everybody who uses any emergency medical or transportation services … pay a reasonable fee.” However, it also stipulates that “any Fort Wright resident or persons that pay license or payroll fees to the city shall be exempt from paying any fees not covered by insurance.”

People who are helped by Fort Wright EMS but are not Fort Wright residents would be required to pay any fees not covered by in-

“Mutual aid” occurs when a call for emergency medical services is put out and the first responders of the city the emergency occurs in are not immediately available. The city calls for outside help from EMS departments in neighboring cities to provide care as soon as possible.

Hatter said the fire department is a necessary, but very expensive operation and said Fort Wright provides “much of (its) services to people outside the city.”

In the first three months of 2023, Fort Wright Fire/EMS was dispatched to cities requesting mutual aid a total of 49 times.

The next reading of Ordinance 04-2023 is scheduled for the June 7 City Council meeting.