TOPEKA, Kansas – Shawnee County now joins what is becoming a national trend when it comes to emergency medical services.
"Moving large patients is more difficult," American Medical Response's Ken Keller said.
That is why Shawnee County approved a new fee schedule for EMS provider American Medical Response. AMR says when they transport an obese patient weighing more than 350 pounds, the company has to use specialized cots and equipment, which are costly.
"We see patients often who are over 300 to 350 pounds, often up to 700 or 800 pounds," Keller said. "These are patients that need resources that are stronger, to support them, wide to support them, but also allow us to move them in a safer manner."
So now, obese patients will see their base rate for EMS go from 629 dollars to more than 1100 dollars. The obese will also pay an additional $4.91 a mile for transport.The practice is not uncommon. Johnson County operates on a similar fee schedule, and we're told several other communities across the country do the same.
Sedgwick County, the state's largest EMS provider, declined our request for an interview, but a county spokeswoman says Sedgwick County does have specialized equipment to transport obese patients, and that the county currently does not charge extra for that service.
Back in Shawnee County, AMR says the extra fees will go to pay for special gurneys and equipment to move the obese, and that this fee schedule has nothing to do with discrimination.
"No, this is actually a matter of providing resources that actually in many instances accommodate those special needs for patients," Keller said.
AMR says patients will only be charged the increased fee if specialized equipment is used. For those on medicaid and medicare, allowable charges will basically cancel out the increase.
