OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – An Oklahoma City woman says she got a $2,000 bill for an ambulance ride her subscription to a city program should have paid for. Once KFOR News 4 started asking questions, the bill finally got covered.
Even though her address may list “Yukon” as her city, Suzanne Olds’ house is one of many with a Yukon address that actually stands within Oklahoma City’s city limits.
“Our utilities, through our water and everything is through Oklahoma City,” Olds said.
She pays a little extra in her Oklahoma City water bill each month to take part in EMSAcare—a program the city offers in partnership with EMSA to cover any EMSA ambulance bills a customer may receive.
“I signed up immediately when we moved here a year ago,” Olds said.
Fast forward to December. A doctor she was seeing at an OU Health Urgent Care Center down the street from her house wanted an ambulance to take her to a hospital for more treatment. Thanks to her EMSAcare subscription, she wasn’t too worried.
“I knew in the back of my mind, okay, I have this, you know, covered,” she said. “They told me they’d be calling EMSA.”
She didn’t take note of what the ambulance said on the side when it picked her up.
But then she checked her mail this week.
“I was shocked,” she said.
‘Shocked’—to see a $2000 bill for that ambulance ride—from Pafford EMS, not EMSA.
“That’s something that I can’t afford for sure,” she said.
She called the city and EMSA. She says EMSA told her it actually was Pafford EMS, not EMSA, who picked her up and transported her to the hospital in December—and she would need to pay Pafford the bill.
She says they told her Pafford was dispatched because dispatchers thought the urgent care center was in Yukon—a city Pafford serves.
The problem is—like Olds’ house—even though the urgent care center has a Yukon address, it actually stands in OKC city limits, which is EMSA’s jurisdiction.
“I talked to supervisors. I emailed people,” she said. “It went in circles. And that’s when I finally reached out to [News 4].”
News 4 called OKC Utilities and EMSA.
After some investigating, EMSA told News 4 they determined they should have been called to respond to pick Olds up, not Pafford, because the urgent care center is within Oklahoma City’s city limits.
In a statement, an EMSA spokesperson said,
“EMSA’s billing department will work with our EMS colleagues to determine what happened on this call and make sure it does not happen in the future. In the interim, this resident’s EMSAcare membership will cover any out-of-pocket costs they may have incurred as a result of this emergency transport.”
Adam Paluka, EMSA spokesperson
The spokesperson told News 4 EMSA’s billing department would make sure Olds’ bill gets taken care of.
“Wow. That’s amazing,” Olds said. “I appreciate that for sure. That’s definitely an answered prayer.”
But Olds said she still wants to know if the same has happened to other people, and urges anyone who may have had a similar experience to check their bills.
