I spent more than 110 hours training to become an Emergency Medical Technician, so that I could help my fellow residents in their times of need. The town of Harvard has given me so much and I say thank you to the town by volunteering as an EMT with the Harvard Ambulance Squad.
The Board of Selectmen recently voted to bill health insurance companies and Medicare for ambulance services. I support this decision. These are tough financial times for all, and we elected the BOS to ensure the town’s fiscal well-being.
In 2007 Harvard Ambulance transported 230 patients to the hospital. Medicare currently reimburses the town at a rate of approximately $500 per transport. The town could have collected over $100,000 in 2007 without burdening the taxpayers. The town would contract a professional billing company which would take under 5 percent of the gross to perform all associated administrative duties. These funds would be placed in an account solely for the use of the ambulance department, freeing up our share of the omnibus budget, around $30,000, to be directed to other departments as needed without necessitating a tax increase. The town has not promised, nor would I expect to receive, a stipend. I am still a volunteer.
Massachusetts requires all residents to have health insurance. Town officials have stated they will not require anyone to pay the remainder of balances not covered by insurance companies. Harvard is a dinosaur in the sense that I was unable to locate any other town in the commonwealth that does not request reimbursement for running its ambulance. I have to wonder if it is so wrong, how it came to be so widely accepted.
I understand and respect other squad members’ decisions to leave, but openly question their true motivations. Some have claimed that the selectmen don’t understand the “spirit” of volunteering. Let’s all be reminded that our selectmen are volunteers themselves.
I will continue to volunteer for this town as an EMT. To me, nothing has changed. I am still helping my friends, my neighbors and my fellow residents.
Andrew Perry, Harvard EMT
Lancaster County Road
