San Antonio is considering increasing its fees for Emergency Medical Services transport services, from $1,000 to $1,500, over the next two years.
The cost would increase to $1,250 in the next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1, according to a budget proposal unveiled Thursday, then another $250 the following year.
The city actually pays an average of $3,700 per an ambulance ride, and City Manager Erik Walsh told reporters Wednesday that most major Texas cities charge between $1,400 and $1,500.
San Antonio hasn’t raised its ambulance fees since 2019, but the idea comes as the city is projecting steep revenue decreases in the coming years. The proposed change could add about $2.6 million in revenue over the next two years, according to the city.
“The vast majority of that revenue is coming from commercial insurance, and we’ve got to keep up with that cost of service,” Walsh said.
The city estimates 69% of that revenue will be covered by insurance companies and 25% will be covered by Medicaid. People who are uninsured can apply to have the city waive their bill through a charity fund the council created several years ago, he noted.
While members of the City Council are clear-eyed about the city’s budget deficit, Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran (D3) was the first to raise concern about the idea when staff presented it to the council on Thursday.
She represents the South Side, where residents must increasingly travel for hospital services after Texas Vista Medical Center closed last year.
“We need to look at finding somewhere else to get that additional revenue,” Viagran said. “It cannot be on EMS transport fees.”
She urged the city to set the proposal aside until it’s done more research about how the fee change would affect residents in different parts of the community.
“We call it a charity fund, but in really it’s an equity fund, when you have an entire section of the city of San Antonio that only has 120 [hospital] beds,” Viagran said.
