City government programs provide low-income individuals in Lexington with help paying for rent and utilities – and soon that list might expand to include ambulance bills.
Tuesday a proposal to launch a fund to help poorer residents afford costly ambulance rides received the unanimous support of the Urban County Council General Government and Social Services Committee.
If enacted, the fund would provide up to $400 in assistance for patients who are at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level. And, as council member Amanda Mays Bledsoe pointed out, residents habitually relying on EMS for transport would only be able to access the aid once every two years.
"I know that when I did ride-alongs with police and fire they said we have a lot of frequent flyers and they seem to run up the bills and charge the most," she said. "So I'm glad to see that's part of it, that it's going to help but also try to figure out what we can do to try to stop the practice in the future."
Funding would come from city dollars already allocated for low-income assistance programs.
Councilman Chris Ford said, while the city would be unable to legally advertise the service, the council could explore other ways of alerting residents to the program once they receive the ambulance bill.
The proposal now moves to the full Urban County Council. If approved, the program could start in July.
