Among the many considerations discussed at Monday night’s Sycamore City Council meeting was a recommendation from the Sycamore Fire Department to revise the city’s ambulance fees.

City Manager Bill Nicklas recommended a 20 percent increase in ambulance fees. This increase would raise the costs of advanced life support patients to a more comparable level with other nearby communities.

Ambulance fees in Sycamore have not been revised since 2002.

Alan Bauer, First Ward alderman, thinks the rate should be increased at least 25 to 30 percent.

“My first reaction to this was that it was not high enough,” he said. “We don’t tend to this issue very often.”

Sycamore Fire Chief Bill Riddle and Assistant Fire Chief Mark Kessler have recommended an amendment to the ambulance fee system and a new approach to the billing system of ambulance fees.

Their recommendation relating to the billing system includes the city changing to an approach that “outsources” the patient billing to Kishwaukee Hospital, since most of the patient’s data comes from that hospital.

“Outsourcing for billing, I think, is one of the best things the city could do,” said Terry Kessler, Fourth Ward alderman.

The estimated cost of the new approach would be about $20,000, with the cost to be counterbalanced by the recommended ambulance fee revisions.

The new billing system would also speed up the process of sending bills to patients.

These changes are recommended to go into effect May 1, and for the fire department to keep track of the increases through December 2008.

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