Billing FAQ

A deductible is an amount you must spend and pay for out of pocket before your insurance policy will begin covering medical bills. Most health insurance deductibles range from $500 – $5000 per policy, per year.

A Co-pay is an amount you must pay for each office visit or ambulance call, toward the total cost of the service charge. An ambulance Co-pay is usually $50 – $300 per call.

Co – Insurance is a percentage of charges the user (patient) must pay after the deductible is met. Most Co-insurance range from 10% or 20% of the charges.

An Emergency call is one in which the patient or bystander calls for our services to respond immediately, often by calling 911.

An Inter-Facility Transfer is a call in which Mobile Life transfers a patient from a hospital or skilled nursing facility (SNF) to another hospital or skilled nursing facility. These transfers are pre-scheduled, arranged by the Hospital or SNF, and must meet strict medical necessity criteria.

Most insurance companies will cover the ambulance charges if the services provide/ambulance call met “medical necessity” for service. If an ambulance call did not meet medical necessity your insurance may deny coverage.

Some insurance companies (and policies with limited coverage) do not cover inter-facility transfers. When this occurs, the bill does become the responsibility of the patient or their family.  

Mobile Life Support Services does participate with Medicare and Medicaid government insurances.

Mobile Life Support has attempted numerous times to negotiate a reasonable contract with private insurance companies. Unfortunately, private insurance companies will not reimburse Mobile Life at a rate that covers our cost to provide the service.

If Mobile Life Support is not a participating provider with your insurance company, they will send you (the subscriber) the check for our services. You must then endorse the check to Mobile Life and mail it to us at P.O. Box 471, Newburgh, NY 12551. 

The charges for your ambulance service are ultimately your responsibility, and the Insurance check along with any copays or coinsurance should be sent to us to cover the fees.

An Emergency Medical Technician (E.M.T.) provides Basic Life Support (BLS) care such as bleeding control, oxygen delivery, and various non-invasive treatments.

A Paramedic provides Advanced Life Support (A.L.S.) care such as I.V. therapy, EKG monitoring, advanced airway placements, and medication administration.

On occasion, a basic EMT – often a volunteer ambulance corps, will respond first to a patient whose condition requires advanced treatment from a paramedic. In this circumstance, a paramedic will also respond to “intercept” with the EMT and patient and provide advance care in the pre-hospital setting.  When this occurs, the paramedic agency will charge a fee for the response and advanced care provided.

Medicare may not cover the fee for a paramedic intercept. Medicare beneficiaries may contact our customer service representatives to discuss discounts and payment options for intercept fees.

If Mobile Life Support has your health insurance information, we will submit a claim to your Insurance company for our services. If we do not have your insurance information, we will mail you as the patient an invoice for our services.

If we do not have your insurance information, please call our billing department in New Windsor at (845) 561-5698 x573.

Mobile Life Support receives little or no tax support for our services. In order to cover our expenses, we must invoice the patient’s insurance for our services. If a balance remains after your insurance pays the bill, federal guidelines require us to send an invoice to the patient for the remainder of the service fees.

Mobile Life Support is an integrated part of the regional 911 system. Frequently, a bystander or family member calls 911 on behalf of the patient who was unable to call for themselves.  We will only generate a bill for our services if we:

1. Transport you as the patient to the hospital, or
2. We provide care for you and you subsequently refuse transportation from the scene.

Mobile Life Support Services is not a volunteer agency and receives little or no tax support from the communities we serve. We have a staff of approximately 500 full-time, part-time and per diem employees.  Each of them is financially compensated for their work and full-time employees are eligible for our benefit package which includes medical/dental insurance coverage, 401K retirement contributions and paid time off.  Each of our 60 ambulances is stocked with various, state-of-the-art, well maintained medical supplies and equipment used to treat our patients and save lives.  Additionally, we have an extensive integrated Education and QI department to ensure that you receive the highest quality care.  The primary means of covering these and other business related expenses, is from the fees we charge for our services provided.  Most likely, your property taxes do not defer any of our operating costs because we are not a government entity.

In most circumstances, if you are injured in a Motor Vehicle Accident and are transported to the hospital, we will bill your automobile (no-fault) insurance for the services we provided at the accident scene.

We understand there are some individuals who do not have medical insurance to cover unforeseen events such as EMS bills and Emergency Room and Hospital visits. If you call our Billing Department in New Windsor at (845) 561-5698 x573 we can offer available discounts and various payment options to make the cost manageable for you.

Mobile Life Support Services usual and customary charges as of July 1, 2019 are as follows: