From the Columbus Republic:
Columbus taxpayers will pay less for emergency ambulance services when the city awards the next contract to one of five possible bidders.
The question is, will city residents remain on the hook for the ambulance expense, and for how much?
Currently, Columbus and Bartholomew County combined pay more than $950,000 to Columbus Regional Hospital, with the city footing more than $715,000 of the bill. The payment offsets the gap between costs and revenues. Low reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid and uninsured patients make it impossible to recoup all fees.
City officials received some proposals that called for no cost to taxpayers, and others that ranged from $80,000 to about $600,000 each year.
http://www.therepublic.com/view/local_story/Taxpayers-still-could-help-foo_1341117090
