Question: I was injured in a fall that required use of a City and County ambulance on Jan. 28. The ambulance took me from Oahu Cemetery to The Queen’s Medical Center. Today I received a letter from Intermedix, a firm located in Gahanna, Ohio. The letter states they are outsourced by our Department of Health to assist the Medicare program. The letter asks for all kinds of personal information including SSN, DOB, email address as well as phone number, etc. I am just trying to see if the outfit is legitimate.
Answer: Intermedix is the mainland company that handles billing for Hawaii’s Emergency Medical Services, including for patients like you, who use Medicare, the federal health insurance program for people who are 65 or older, certain younger people with disabilities and people with end-stage renal disease.
Call Intermedix at 1-888-987-2713 to confirm that the letter your received is legitimate, and to ask any questions about your bill. You will be greeted by a voice message that welcomes you to Emergency Medical Services billing; follow the voice prompts after that. You can read more on the Department of Health’s website, at 808ne.ws/billing.
You didn’t mention how much you were charged, but we can confirm that fees for emergency ambulance service increased 10 percent as of Jan. 1, according to a notice by the state Department of Health, 808ne.ws/ambfee.
Basic life support for transportation to a hospital emergency room costs $1,363, plus $19 a mile, while advanced life support or specialty care transport rose to $1,530 and air ambulance service (rotary wing) rose to $7,752, according to the notice.
Other readers have expressed confusion about ambulance bills, so we’ll explain the process.
Like the police and fire departments, EMS receives some taxpayer funding, but unlike those departments, EMS services also are offset by user fees, including from insurance payments for covered patients.
The state Department of Health administers Hawaii’s EMS, contracting with the City and County of Honolulu to provide ambulance service in response to 911 calls on Oahu.
The state hires an outside company — Intermedix — to process the bills. Revenue generated goes to the state general fund.
Q: Good news about Aala Park. Is there a list of other dog parks somewhere?
A: Yes. The city’s Department of Parks and Recreation website lists about 35 Oahu parks where leashed dogs are allowed and another six parks where dogs are allowed off leash; Aala Park is the newest of the off-leash parks. See the complete list at 808ne.ws/dogparks.
Q: Is Magic Island on either list?
A: No.
Q: Does the Honolulu Police Department keep records of violent crime by the type of perpetrator and victim? In other words, is there a way to track the number of violent crimes on Oahu committed by homeless people, and against homeless people? By tourists and against tourists? By Hawaii residents with known addresses and against Hawaii residents? Or any elements of the previous categories?
A: No. “At this time, the HPD does not track the residential status of suspects and victims or ask if they are residents, visitors or homeless,” said Michelle Yu, a spokeswoman for the Honolulu Police Department.
Mahalo
Many thanks to the alert pedestrian who noticed that I had dropped some of an armful of belongings while crossing the street near Kapiolani Boulevard and Atkinson Drive. She swept them up so effortlessly and caught up with me before I had even noticed they were missing. My day would have been ruined. I should have had a bag. Mahalo. — Fellow walker
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
