Muskego OKs ambulance fee hike

Muskego - Ambulance fees will go up 12 percent under a contract with the Tess Corners Volunteer Fire Department approved last week by the Muskego Common Council.

The new fees that range from $435 to $519, depending on how much medical help is needed, will be paid by patients or their insurance companies.

Muskego does not provide its own ambulance service, and instead contracts with the Tess Corners Volunteers.

Saying that he had received enough data to indicate a significant ambulance fee increase is justified, Muskego Alderman Kert Harenda did not try to hold up Common Council approval of an ambulance contract.

Since December, Harenda has been asking for hard data on why the increase was needed. He and others again called for data at the December Common Council meeting, so, instead of approving the ambulance contract at that time, the council returned it to the Public Safety Committee.

At the committee review, the only additional information provided was how much other communities charge for their ambulance service and that the proposed hike would put Muskego in the mid-range.

Like the first time around in December, higher fuel and other costs were referenced as reasons for the proposed increase. Acknowledging at the time that Muskego's ambulance fees have not gone up since 2007, Harenda said the increase might well be justified but that he wanted due diligence in the process leading to final approval.

One aspect that he had wanted discussed was why New Berlin charges less for ambulance service than Muskego, while New Berlin supplies its own paramedics and Muskego does not. That discussion didn't take place, however.

Not providing data is not transparent government, Harenda said, although acknowledging that the Tess Corners Fire Department is not an arm of city government, but a contractor.

The fire department did eventually supply data on fuel and medical supplies, in time for last week's Common Council meeting, accounting for most of the increase. The contract was approved unanimously.

- Jane Ford-Stewart