WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, Ohio — Fayette County EMS is marking 50 years of service this year, and the department says the funding model behind that longevity is what officials call “soft billing” — a policy that keeps ambulance calls from generating extra bills for county residents.
The Fayette County EMS District was established in 1976, according to a department badge marking its 50th anniversary, and has served as the county’s primary ambulance provider out of Washington Court House in the decades since.
In a social media post, the department said district residents who call for an ambulance have their insurance billed for the run, and any balance left over is covered by local levy funding rather than passed on to the patient. Non-residents who use the service, by contrast, are responsible for the full cost of the ambulance charges, the department said.
“Soft billing = community protection,” the department said in the post, adding that the structure “keeps EMS strong and fair.”
Fayette County EMS is led by Director Rodney List and is headquartered at 115 E. Temple St. in Washington Court House, according to the county’s website. The department describes its mission as strengthening the county’s response to injury, illness and fire.
The soft-billing approach is common among EMS agencies that rely on local property tax levies to help fund operations: insurance reimbursement covers part of the cost of a run, and levy dollars close the remaining gap so residents are not billed directly out of pocket.
The information contained in this story was obtained from Fayette County EMS.
