Officials try to save ambulance subscription service to Pawcatuck residents

Stonington - For more than a half century, the Westerly Ambulance Corps has allowed a large number of Pawcatuck residents to buy a $35 annual subscription that pays for any costs not covered by their own insurance or medicare.

But the ambulance company had to end the offer and refund the subscription fees last year after discovering Connecticut insurance law does not allow the ambulance company to sell subscriptions, because it is not an insurance company.

On Tuesday, First Selectman Ed Haberek plans to travel to the State Capitol to testify in favor of a bill that would allow the corps to once again offer the subscriptions. The hearing on HB 5305 is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. in room 2B in the Legislative Office Building before the Insurance and Real Estate Committee.

The $35 fee offers subscribers emergency and non-emergency transport within 100 miles when requested by police, a doctor or a 911 call. The corps then waives any balance not covered by the patients' insurance company. Haberek said he has heard from many residents who want the subscription reinstated.

State Senator Andrew Maynard, D-18th District, and State Rep. Diana Urban, D-North Stonington, have been working together the past year to find a way to reinstate the subscriptions.

They along with Haberek and ambulance officials have been working with State Rep. Steve Fontana, D-North Haven, and state Sen. Joe Crisco, D-17th District, who co-chair the legislature's insurance and real estate committee, to introduce the bill.

"This particular partnership has served the people of Pawcatuck well and should continue. Residents who subscribe to this membership should not have to fear that they will be hit with an unexpected and overwhelming bill if they pick up the phone to dial 9-1-1 for assistance," Maynard said.

"I am confident that, by all of us working together, we can get this matter resolved and Pawcatuck residents will be able to be confident when they have to call an ambulance and not be worried about an unfair bill," Urban added.

Under current law the subscription service makes the ambulance corps an "insurer"- a definition that carries requirements that would be prohibitively difficult for such small, voluntary emergency medical providers like Westerly ambulance.

The proposed bill would repeal the law and substitute language that would state "an ambulance service or company that provides emergency medical services on a subscription basis and is a nonprofit volunteer organization shall not be deemed to be engaged in the business of insurance." The bill would not only apply to Westerly Ambulance but other volunteer EMS organizations that operate subscription services in the state.

j.wojtas@theday.com