Sample letter

Please cut and paste this text and personalize it as appropriate. Fill in the date, name of Councilmember, and your name.  For email addresses and more reasons to oppose the ambulance fee, click here. 

                                                               Date

The Honorable ____________________
Montgomery County Council
100 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, Maryland 20850

                Re:  Bill 25-08, "Emergency Medical Services Transport Fee"

Dear Councilmember _____________:

I wish to express my opposition to Bill 25-08, "Emergency Medical Services Transport Fee," which proposes to charge residents for calling 911 for emergency medical service. The County Council wisely rejected this proposal several years ago -- and it should reject it once again.

An ambulance fee -- which could run from $300 to $800 or more -- is a bad idea for many reasons.

First, a fee may deter residents from calling 911 when they need help most. Residents should not be thinking about whether they can afford the fee or co-pay when experiencing a heart attack, trouble breathing, or other serious medical emergency.

Second, the fee will fall hardest on our most vulnerable citizens, including the poor, the elderly, and other vulnerable groups in our community.

Third, the fee will not strengthen our fire/rescue system. Residents already pay a separate Fire Tax that funds more than 95% of the fire/rescue system’s operating budget, and many residents donate more to local departments. Why should residents pay twice for 911 service?

Finally, the County is proposing to charge for a service that the volunteers with many local fire/rescue departments provide for free. That's simply wrong.

The Council rightly rejected an ambulance fee during the County's last budget crisis. It should do so again.

                                                          Sincerely,

                                                          Your Name

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The Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad, Inc.

5020 Battery Lane, Bethesda, Maryland 20814