GUILDERLAND — Rates for ambulance transport are increasing for the first time in three years.

The Guilderland Town Board on Dec. 7 unanimously approved a fee schedule for next year for emergency medical services and also approved an agreement with Emergency Management Resources to handle billing.

The town currently has a contract with MultiMed Billing Services and pays a fee of 9 percent on recovered revenue from the patient’s insurance carrier. Also, according to a memo that Jay Tyler, director of EMS, sent to Supervisor Peter Barber, MultiMed is unable to “Roster Bill,” which is required for reimbursements related to administering vaccines.

The new agreement with EMR is at 6.5 percent on recovered revenue. “The 2.5% reduction will result in significant savings for the Town in its revenue recovery process,” wrote Tyler.

Barber estimated that savings at about $50,000.

Tyler added that EMR had helped the town throughout the pandemic with roster billing at no charge and will continue to perform that service with the standard rate.

Councilwoman Rosemary Centi recalled how originally town residents had not been charged for ambulance services. “We took whatever their insurance paid,” she said.

Barber responded that deductibles and copayments have gotten high and so transported patients are billed. “One thing they don’t do is bring anybody to court, … They don’t sue people,” he said.

Tyler joined the online meeting to say that, when he became senior paramedic supervisor in 2012, “We just started billing.”

He said that, if patients can’t afford to pay for transport, there is a hardship program where the fee is waived. “We’ve never gone to court,” he said.

Barber said that sometimes an insurance company would send payment directly to a patient. “Some of them would keep the money so we’d have to chase it down,” he said.

The new fee schedule is the first change since the town board approved an EMS billing policy on Oct. 15, 2019, soon after the inception of the Guilderland Ambulance Service, according to a memo from Tyler to Barber. Formerly, the not-for-profit Western Turnpike Rescue Squad had been partially staffed by volunteers.

The increases are based on the “Usual and Customary Rates” as recommended by Emergency Management Resources.

“EMS billing reduces the tax subsidy of EMS for Guilderland residents …,” Tyler wrote. “While taxes still provide a portion of operational funding, ambulance fees collected from insurance companies mitigate the taxpayer burden.”

Basic Life Support transport to an area hospital at the 2019 rate costs $1,150; at the 2022 rate, it will cost $1,250. Advanced Life Support 2 currently costs $1,400; in 2022, it will cost $2,200.

Under the current system, if there was no transport, there were minor charges — $250 for Basic Life support — while with the new system, there will be no charge.

However, under the current system, if someone refused transport after a motor-vehicle accident, there was no charge. In 2022, there will be a charge of $1,250.

Sometimes, Tyler said, a person who has been in a car accident and suffered, say, just an abrasion, does not want to be taken to the hospital. EMR will bill for that, he said, adding, “It’s an easy one to get.”