Local News in Brief : Santa Ana : City Offers Paramedic Services for $35 a Year

Residents soon will have the option of paying an annual $35 fee for any emergency paramedic services they might need in the course of a year.

At present, residents are billed $150 for transportation by paramedics to a hospital. Fees for additional paramedic emergency services go into effect Jan. 1.

Under the new plan adopted by the City Council on Monday, residents may instead pay $35 a year to cover any costs not covered by a patient’s own health insurance. The new fee would go into effect in March.

Residents will not be required to subscribe to the program, and no one will be refused paramedic service because of his or her inability to pay, but if they do not subscribe, they will be billed by the city for services, officials said.

About 25% of the city’s households and businesses are expected to subscribe to the program, generating about $390,000 for the city, Fire Chief Allen R. Carter said in his report to the City Council.

The fee covers an entire family at a single residence or all employees at a particular business. Non-emergency transportation is not included, however.