N.H. Ambulance Provider Corrects Overbilling

June 24--MANCHESTER -- The city's ambulance provider has forgiven balances and provided refunds after overbilling patients in 2011 and in the first quarter of 2012, Manchester Fire Chief James Burkush said.

Burkush said a "human error" on the part of American Medical Response resulted in patients being overbilled.

In a letter to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, he said the company's general manager, Brendan McNiff, had the company perform an in-house audit, which found that 323 ambulance trips out of nearly 5,000 in 2011 and in the first months of 2012 had been "incorrectly billed."

Burkush said the city is going to conduct another audit to confirm AMR's findings.

The company forgave outstanding incorrect balances and issued $16,000 in refunds to patients who had already paid the incorrect bills, Burkush said.

He said the city's rate for ambulance services is about $600, depending on how many miles the ambulance has to drive to get a patient to a hospital.

In his letter to the board, Burkush said the company retrained employees in the billing office and will perform quarterly audits to ensure "accuracy and compliance with the contract" the company has with the city.

The city has an option to extend its contract with AMR for an additional two years when the current contract expires in December.

Union Leader staff writer Beth LaMontagne Hall contributed to this report.

tbuckland@unionleader.com

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