The White County Commission voted Monday night to enter into a new reimbursement agreement with Cookeville Regional.
EMS Director Mike Kerr said this is the first agreement of its kind. Cookeville Regional will reimburse the county for non-emergency transfers if a patient is unable to pay. Kerr said the medical center approached him with the idea.
“A lot of times insurances do not pay for non-emergency calls,” Kerr said. “Or maybe we get there and they don’t meet insurance requirements. Or for whatever reason, it helps them get the patient out of the bed. So they’ve agreed to pay us at Medicare rate to move that patient to wherever they need to go.”
Kerr said this will help the hospital particularly in the emergency room. Kerr said sometimes emergency room patients are not admitted to the hospital and end up waiting in a bed in the ER.
Kerr said the agreement will go into effect as soon as it is signed by both parties.
“It’s a big help because a lot of times, you know, we didn’t get paid for people that we transported and it help, you know, the crews, the morale and things,” Kerr said. “We’re knowing that we’re going to get paid whether insurance does or not, we’re going to get paid to take them home.”
In other business, the commission awarded three groups Opioid Abatement Grants. Seeds of Hope received $50,000, Tennessee Community Services Agency received $36,000 and the White County Schools received $3,600.
