Audit shows Washington insurers over-billed

The Spokane, Wash., City Council will decide whether to terminate a contract with a private ambulance company that overbilled hundreds of patients and insurance companies more than $320,000.

The fire department was supposed to oversee the ambulance contract.

An audit showed American Medical Response, the ambulance company serving Spokane residents, overbilled hundreds of patients and insurers since January 2003. AMR said it has begun sending refunds to patients who were billed too much for hospital trips in its vehicles.

Under the contract signed in 1993, the company is supposed to charge the “basic life support” rate of $358 when a city firefighter accompanies a patient to the hospital in one of its ambulances. Many patients were charged the higher “advanced life support” rate of $494, the audit found.

The council could decide to terminate its contract with AMR, or seek hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines. Under the contract, the city can seek progressive fines starting at $1,000 and increasing to $5,000 for successive violations.

Mayor Dennis Hession also could take oversight of the contract away from the fire department.

Fire Lt. Bill Jackman told the committee the FBI opened a fraud investigation several months ago and served a search warrant for ambulance records, but charges never materialized.

A class-action lawsuit was filed against AMR in December by three Spokane residents who said they were overcharged.

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