While the purpose of the St. Charles Fire Department is to meet the emergent pre-hospital health care needs of our service area, we must maintain a solid financial posture in order to continue offering high quality services. This involves the adoption of firm but fair policies for the collection of patient’s accounts.

Billing practices
Field personnel will only request insurance information. All questions regarding charges, insurance coverage and billing issues should be referred to the St. Charles Fire Department administrative office. Patients, guardians and family may contact our billing clerk, Gina Yacovelli, at 636-949-3216. The billing staff is available at our administrative office to answer questions regarding patient bills for treatment and transportation. The St. Charles Fire Department will not engage in collections for services at the scene, en route to the scene or upon delivery of the patient. The St. Charles Fire Department accepts assignment from Medicare, Medicaid, and most third party payers.

The following are the basic billing and collection policies of the St. Charles Fire Department:

• St. Charles Fire Department accepts assignment from most third party payers.
• St. Charles Fire Department will make every effort to bill and collect payment from the patient’s insurance companies directly.
  
• St. Charles Fire Department will not utilize threatening letters, billing tactics, or telephone collection methods to collect payment for services rendered.
  
• The primary focus of all billing messages and telephone contacts will be to secure patient insurance information.
• St. Charles Fire Department utilizes an outside collection agency only when all efforts fail in contacting a patient for insurance information or to arrange a plan for payment.
• St. Charles Fire Department will address all cases of financial hardship on an individual basis. St. Charles Fire Department’s only basic requirement of a patient with a financial hardship is that they contact our office and work with us cooperatively before their bill is sent to the outside collection agency.
• Any patient who contacts our billing office and states that they have a financial hardship will be offered a payment plan to meet their individual needs.
• Any patient that states that they are unable to meet the terms of a payment plan for the full amount of the bill will be offered a reduction in the bill to the current Medicaid rate of reimbursement with the balance written off as a "financial hardship." A payment plan for the balance due will be arranged if necessary.
• Any patient that contacts the St. Charles Fire Department and states that they are unable to pay any amount of the bill may qualify to have their entire bill written off as a "financial hardship."
• All such requests and determinations of financial hardship are considered on an individual case-by-case basis. The St. Charles Fire Department may request documentation of the financial hardship that may include but is not limited to a letter from a third party, for example, a social worker, or a letter from the patient himself or herself stating that they have a financial hardship.

Ambulance Billing Clerk: Gina Yacovelli
Phone: 636-949-3216
Fax: 636-940-4621
Email: Gina Yacovelli

We collect in order to serve; we do not serve in order to collect.