We have all read about the flap that the city of Tracy was passing a fee for calling 9-1-1. But our city manager explained that was not the case — he explained there will be a new fee for medical services from the Tracy Fire Department. But do not be surprised that the city will try to pass such a fee in the future to punish us for our property values declining and declining sales tax revenue.
We all wonder why was this fee imposed on us like a punishment because the tax base has run dry. And why are we paying twice for this — don’t we pay for this in our current property taxes?
Our current City Council has become so arrogant, so out-of-touch with reality, and blames the taxpayers for the budget crisis. So let’s remember in November and remove all the members of the council that voted for this insanity.
Let us not replace them with people from the building and home trades or someone who sits on the board of our local hospital.
In November, voice your outrage about this fee and vote out the current City Council — let’s get real human beings into those jobs who have intelligence, compassion and know how to manage a budget for the citizens of Tracy.
The reason AMR is meeting their standards is due to the FD. Those groups don't have jurisdiction to tell citizens to cut their cities' EMR service.
But the biggest problem is that we now pay more for less. There is absolutely NO incentive for AMR to improve response times.
The improvement in response times happened because cities like Stockton, etc added their FD services.
This is a costly agreement. Of course they can't say NO because it is a much more complicated arrangement than county jurisdiction. It spans BOTH county AND each city involved in paying for their own FD EMS.
The four county groups don't have the burden of paying all those city FD EMS. They are the county. And as long as nobody wants faster response times nobody complains. Until you have to start paying for it.
When that happensbpeople may ask why do we need two systems. One that is not even recognized by some insurance companies. Remember Stockton was concerned with response times. The county's answer was, so deal with it. And they continued to pay the FD EMS.
In other words. Someone else is paying for their decisions to have two costly systems that when combined have outlived their usefulness.
But don't worry, your congressman has a healthcare plan that will fix the booboo by putting a band-aid on the problem.
As for AMR meeting standards, there are 4 oversight committees listed in the Grand Jury report tasked with insuring the appropriate standards of service are met by both the dispatch and ambulance response sides of AMR. In addition there's staff at the County level whose job it is to monitor the specific provisions for service. If the standards are not sufficient, it would be up to these same folks to change them. Given the expertise of the 4 committees listed (one is the County Fire Chiefs group), they should be more than qualified to insure all County residents and visitors receive the highest level of EMS possible.
They are a professional company and have to arrive in a timely manner or the county can penalize them financially. What that doesn't tell you is the proximity to the ambulance and that in many other instances the FD arrives first, administers CPR, etc until the AMR arrives. This is where it costs money to improve response times. We don't all live near where the ambulance is parked on a particular day. Also, there are 300 calls per day. The FD added class one responder vehicles and depending on the location can get there first. The grand jury did nothing but pass the cost from the county to the city of Stockton. Wasn't the AMR The grand jury report in regards to Stockton trying to get out of the county contract with AMR. It makes light reading, but they (Stockton) could have replaced the AMR improved response times and saved the taxpayers money. Try a jury of Tracy peers and see if that flies. Im not here to convince anyone of anything - just analyze the issue. What's wrong with saving the taxpayers some money?
But don't take my word for it. The Grand Jury said the same thing after reviewing ALL the pertinent documents, including patient surveys, patient records, dispatch logs, complaints, etc. etc. (the actual report which includes a long list of specific documents reviewed is online if you'd like some "light reading") I'm no rocket scientist, but I'd say Grand Jury findings "trump" both your and my OPINIONS regarding this matter.
If the county AMR system worked. You are telling us we wouldn't have to pay for EMS services. As it stands now the agreement with AMR is costing us more than it's worth. How can 2 ambulances handle one call every four minutes? That does not work. That's why the FD supplemented the system. At a cost.
Some of the commenters below said their tax dollars were already paying for it. My point is the county pays AMR for the 911 system. That is part of AMR, which the county uses to dispatch the AMR ambulance.
San Joaquin County Emergency Services is the permitting agency for ambulance service (including air ambulances). The Board of Supervisors approves the fees that can be charged by ambulance services. County EMS does NOT pay any type of fee to the ambulance service. In fact, ambulance services authorized to operate in San Joaquin County must pay the County a permit fee that covers the oversight and permitting process within the County. Ambulance services bill insurance or the patient for service provided. If an ambulance service doesn't meet standards set forth in the contract, the County can penalize the service until they meet the standard.
Here's the link to the County's Ordinance regarding this issue if you'd like to double check these facts. http://www.sjgov.org/ems/PDF/Policies/1001_San_Joaquin_Co_Ambulance_Ordinance.pdf.
I think your taxes were originally to pay for the County Ambulance system (AMR). The county pays them a fee based on whether they meet an agreed upon response time. The FD must have provided additional EMS service. There are now 300 calls per day and only two county ambulances. These cities are facing an additional increasing cost that the county cannot keep pace.
Adios,
Insurance companies will pay the fee if the ambulance company was not in the picture. I think Stockton and another San Joaquin city already tried to replace the AMR ambulance service. It doesn't seem to scale as well as the FD.
How often do you call for an ambulance?
Public Safety comes from our Tax Dollar - That is why insurance will never pay the extra fee - Double taxation.
What does your spelling test have to do with it.
adios,
Are you sure your insurance doesn't have a deductable? The $48 dollars may save you more money than your insurance company's deductable.
Can you spell A-P-A-T-H-Y?
The $48 dollars is a fraction of most insurance companies deductibles charge you. After that you don't pay a dime. The insurance company pays or the $48 dollars covers you.
Have to agree with glide.
In response to your question, no I wil not run for office and waste my money on this NO HORSE TOWN and stupid, lame peo[e like you. Tracy has become a lost casue, we would move but my home is upside down.