YES ON 7A     YES ON 7A     YES ON 7A

What Are We Asking For?
Information on Ballot Question 7A
A One-Half Cent Sales Tax
to Fund, Sustain and Improve Ambulance Services!

Our Family Caring for Your Family! Essential community emergency service! Superior Paramedics & EMTs – some of the Best in the State! Outstanding patient care! Exceptional physician driven medical direction! Aggressive medical treatment protocols! Strong partnerships with law enforcement, Fire Protection and Hospitals!

Please Support Your Ambulance! Vote YES on 7A

District Resident Benefits: No balance billing after insurance pays! Deductible write-offs are MONEY in your POCKET used for other medical expenses! No more collection agency efforts for district residents! Sales taxes off-set by lower property taxes by lower Residential Assessment Rates! Provides long-term consistent & stable funding to fund, sustain & improve ambulance services! Non-residents pay for services they consume!

Please Support Your Ambulance! Vote YES on 7A

We Aren’t Alone! Chaffee County Ambulance – half-cent sales tax (2016); Tri-Lakes Fire & EMS – mill levy increase (2017); Clear Creek County Ambulance – half-cent sales tax (2017); South Park Ambulance District – mill levy increase (2018); Eagle County Paramedic Services – mill levy increase (2016); and, Durango Fire & Rescue – mill levy increase (2017).

Please Support Your Ambulance! Vote YES on 7A

Why Do We Need It? Call volume is rising; Multiple ambulances needed at the same time 40% concurrent call rate leaving NO Ambulances to Cover; No ambulances available on average 8 hours every day! 60 calls un-answered last year! More Paramedics & Ambulances are Needed!

Please Support Your Ambulance! Vote YES on 7A

Why Do We Need It? Response times worsening especially in Woodland Park and Divide areas; Multiple calls occurring at the same time prolongs response times; and, Additional ambulance is needed in Woodland Park/Divide area to lower response times & improve service!

Please Support Your Ambulance! Vote YES on 7A

Why Do We Need It? Ambulance service costs climbing! Ambulance services have been cut! Cut one on-duty ambulance; Cut paramedic & EMT raises; Cut medical training & education; Cut facility improvements & repairs; Cut ambulance, cardiac monitor & other essential patient care equipment purchases; and, More Cuts expected if revenues don’t improve!

Please Support Your Ambulance! Vote YES on 7A

Ambulance Bills Rise-Payments Decline! Higher Ambulance Bills Don’t Generate Higher Payments! Medicare & Medicaid pay significantly below cost! Patients can’t be balanced billed for unpaid amounts; Unpaid amounts from Medicare and Medicaid are shifted to those who can pay through higher ambulance bills and service cuts; Even insurance is paying less leaving more for patients to pay; and, Higher rates and lower payments decreases the value of the 50% Resident Discount Program.

Please Support Your Ambulance! Vote YES on 7A

Payer Mix Worsening! Payer mix refers to primary payer types, Medicare, Medicaid, private, and insurance; Affordable Care Act worsens payments; 80% of payers are low, below cost, paying Medicare, Medicaid and private pay (un-insured); Only 20% of payers are private insurance & insurance paying less; and, As payer gap widens payments will worsen and ambulance services will decline!

Please Support Your Ambulance! Vote YES on 7A

So Why Does This Matter?
Medicare & Medicaid patients don’t have to worry about their ambulance bills; but, they do have to worry about receiving service!

Please Support Your Ambulance! Vote YES on 7A

The Big Picture of Payer Mix Medicare & Medicaid are the fastest growing “insured” groups & will devastate future ambulance funding!

Please Support Your Ambulance! Vote YES on 7A

Non-Resident Visitors Consume Services Without Paying! Consume 36% of ambulance services (2017); Left local taxpayers holding the bag for $500,000 worth of unpaid costs (2017); Between 2008-2017 they consumed $4,028,802 (3.5 years) of property taxes subsidies; Tie up limited recourses otherwise available for district resident use; Residents pay higher taxes and bills due to unpaid use! Visitors would pay sales taxes that support your ambulance!

Please Support Your Ambulance! Vote YES on 7A

Property Tax Cuts Worsen Ambulance Funding! Front range urban growth worsens services in rural areas; Residential Assessment Rate (RAR) drop from 7.96% to 7.2% (2018) lowers property taxes & ambulance revenue; Future RAR drops (6.1% in 2020) and beyond worsens ambulance revenues; Property taxes collected in 2023 are projected to be the same as collected in 2007 with higher costs; and, Services will worsen as revenues decline!

Please Support Your Ambulance! Vote YES on 7A

How are high cost ambulance services provided when… Expenses keep rising & revenues keep declining? Patients expect services when they call for them? Payers and patients don’t pay for the services provided? Non-resident visitors consume services but don’t pay?

Please Support Your Ambulance! Vote YES on 7A

Support Your Ambulance! Support a Half-Cent Sales Tax For Your Ambulance and Receive: District Resident Insurance Only Billing Program no out-of-pocket costs after insurance pays ! No More Collection Agencies for District Residents! Only $150/Year if you spend $30,000! Improved Ambulance Services when you need them! Faster Response Times when seconds count! Superior Care by outstanding paramedics and EMTs!

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