Middlebury Has A Better Deal Than Winsted, And Winsted Has A Pretty Good Deal

Winsted ambulance deal gets approval

 BY GARY GENTILE
 REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
  WINSTED—Selectmen on Monday approved a less ex­pensive one-year deal for emergency medical service with the Winsted Area Ambulance Association.
  Taxpayers will save about $12,000 this year. The new contract charges the town $7.50 per resident, plus the cost of workers’ compensation and liability insurance. The town was paying $9 per resident plus insurance, or $91,916, in the contract that expired June 30.

  The nonprofit association dropped its rate for Winsted because of its ability to raise a large part of its budget by billing patients. The association also serves Barkhamsted, Colebrook and Hartland. Winsted is the only town that has a written contract.

  Selectmen expressed satisfaction with the association’s services and pricing even though the group has a significant surplus. The association has averaged a surplus of $30,338 per year since 1997-98, with an average surplus of $100,919 the last five years.

  Still, the group buys its own ambulance and other equipment, and often makes generous donations to police and fire departments for such items as stun guns. The group also provides free first aid training in the schools.

 The association is not willing to waive its fees entirely because of the unpredictability of reimbursement from Medicare and other insurance carriers, Selectman Jeffery Liskin said.

  “Trust me, if we went out to bid we’d be paying about a half a million dollars for the same service,” Liskin said.

--------------------------------

Kind of like Middlebury except.

1) MVFD does not charge the Town one penny for providing the service. In fact, the MVFD pays out $80,000 a year for a contract with Campion Ambulance for ALS services. Winsted charges each resident $7.50. The article did not state whether or not ALS services were included. 

2) MVFD has never taken anyone to collections if their insurance company would not pay the bill.  Winsted is not willing to waive its fees entirely because of the unpredictability of insurance companies.

Winsted is similar to Middlebury in that -

1) The MVFD buys its own ambulance and equipment. Middlebury currently has a new ambulance that is in the process of being built, and will be delivered in a few months.  The price tag to taxpayers? Zero.

2) The MVFD gives donations back to departments in town. MVFD recently purchased 4 defibrillators to be placed at various public places around town, and $25,000 worth of Holmatro Rescue Tools.

3) As Selectman Jeffery Liskin said, the contract saves Winsted about a half a million dollars a year for the same service. Middlebury realizes the same savings.

-----------------------

It seems like the Town of Winsted is pretty happy with their system, even though the service bills, and the Town still has to kick in $7.50 per person, plus insurance. In 2000 the population of Winsted was 7,321. If the population remained stable that would be $54,907.50 plus insurance costs.  

Middlebury insurance costs for vehicles come under the Town’s Fleet Insurance which would presumedly be significantly less than what Winsted is paying for a private organization. In addition most of the personnel who ride the ambulance are cross-trained firefighters who are already under the Town’s insurance policy.

Middlebury has a great deal. It’s hard to imagine why anyone would want to mess with it. But, Mr. St. John spent thousands of dollars of taxpayer money last year paying his lawyers to try to do just that.  Mr. St. John’s contract would have killed the goose that laid the golden egg.  Fortunately, the MVFD flatly turned down the contract, and when  Mr. Gormley and Mr. Desmarais were voted into office, the one-sided contract was thrown out the window.

The MVFD is currently putting the finishing touches on a new contract with the Town that will be mutually beneficial.