Overview
- City councillors backed a new fee plan under which patients will owe about €267 per ambulance deployment and €62 for certain medical transports.
- Essen will continue invoicing health insurers first, then send patients a bill for the expected gap the city says insurers will leave unpaid.
- The city’s calculation puts a rescue deployment at €1,020, while insurers argue federal law stops them from covering costs not tied to care of their own members, such as Fehlfahrten.
- Several other North Rhine–Westphalia municipalities, including Rhein-Sieg-Kreis, are preparing similar steps as the state health ministry says it lacks authority to force insurers to pay.
- Municipal groups warn bills could deter emergency calls and estimate at least €250 million in annual shortfalls across NRW, and Essen is working on hardship provisions for those unable to pay.