After 50 years of financial independence, our all-volunteer Mad River Valley Ambulance Service is reaching out to local towns, seeking $15,000 from each town for 2020 and 2021.
The reasons for the request are myriad but have to do with capital investment costs, increased costs of operation and, critically, the fact that insurance reimbursement rates are dictated by the insurance providers who have refused efforts to increase those rates.
Commercial insurance companies’, Medicare’s and Medicaid’s reimbursement rates have been flat for a decade. The ambulance service’s annual cash operating costs have increased from $152,000 in 2009 to $267,000 in 2019.
Mad River Valley Ambulance Service (MRVAS) responds to over 500 calls annually, keeps three ambulances on the road, and keeps three crews on duty 24/7 who attain and maintain advanced levels of certification. While MRVAS is critical for all of us, those who live here and our visitors, it is vital for our success as a ski community to have this invaluable service available and offering such a rapid response.
MRVAS handles 98 percent of its calls without requesting help from other agencies such as Barre EMS or DHART or local fire departments. Importantly, the fact that its 70 volunteers live and work from one end of The Valley to the other means that first responders can get on scene quickly, regardless of where the need for help originates.
The last thing we want is for our ambulance service to suffer the fate of Valley Rescue which went bust, leaving residents of Granville, Hancock and Rochester reliant on White River Valley Ambulance in Bethel. Bethel is 29 minutes from Rochester, 36 minutes from Hancock and 32 minutes to Granville. The extra minutes it takes for help to arrive can be a matter of life or death.
Waitsfield and Warren will bring the MRVAS request to voters as a warned article at Town Meeting and Fayston and Moretown have yet to discuss the issue. We strongly urge local select boards to bring this before voters and even more strongly encourage voters to pass this article.
Our lives depend on it.
