Charity Care: Policy & Assistance

The purpose of this policy is to recognize that the San Antonio Fire Department may provide ambulance services to patients who may not have the means to pay the ambulance transport fee due to circumstances beyond their control. It is not the intent of this policy to provide charity care to patients who have the ability to pay, or to patients who have private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid or other third-party coverage.

It is the policy of San Antonio Fire Department to provide ambulance services to our community without regard to a patient’s and/or guarantor’s ability to pay for these services. We maintain a charity care policy for patients who are unable to pay for all or part of their care for various reasons.

Charity care is not available for patients who are able to pay for their care. For those patients who are able to pay for their care, San Antonio Fire Department shall require payment but may offer special arrangements, including payment plans, with approval of the City of San Antonio. Payment plan inquiries shall be directed to the SAFD EMS billing vendor at 621 N. Alamo, San Antonio, TX 78215, the SAFD EMS Division, or subsequent billing vendors as contracted by the SAFD.

These guidelines are provided to the contractor(s) currently performing ambulance billing and collections and revenue maximization consulting services for San Antonio Fire Department. The contractor(s) may rely on these guidelines and provide hardship assistance without further approval from the San Antonio Fire Department and/or the City of San Antonio. However, San Antonio Fire Department reserves the right to review any of the accounts that were deemed eligible for charity care in order to ascertain if the contractor is acting in conformity with the guidelines. San Antonio Fire Department further reserves the right to modify this policy at any time with the approval of City Council.

Full charity care reduction (100% write-off of ambulance service charges to charity care) shall be granted to patients earning less than or equal to 400% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), as published annually by the Department of Health and Human Services. San Antonio Fire Department and/or its contractor(s) shall rely on financial data provided by the patient and may also utilize data from credit bureaus and other sources to determine if the patient is eligible for charity care. Once it is determined that the patient is eligible for charity care, San Antonio Fire Department or its contractor(s) shall make no further attempts to collect payment from the patient.