Paul and Christy Goings enjoying life in their more active years.
Murphy – Christy Goings found a surprise in her mailbox last month. And it wasn’t the good kind.
She examined the envelope, which had originated somewhere in Illinois, but needed a magnifying glass to read it properly. Goings is elderly with poor eyesight. Inside was an invoice with a payment due of $500.
There were five charges at $100 each for the 911 calls the Goings made in the past two months.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Christy said. She and her husband, Paul, suffer from multiple sclerosis.
“I don’t have a lot of muscle,” Paul said. “When I fall out of my chair, I lack the strength to get up off the floor, and Christy’s too weak to help me.”
Once Paul hits the floor, he is trapped there until Emergency Medical Services arrives.
“They always send out these two strapping guys,” he said. “They are as nice as can be. They pick me up and put me in my chair, no problem.”
Goings said they always ask if he’s OK, or if he needs to go the emergency room. He never has.
“I joked with them one time,” Goings said. “I asked them, ‘How much do I owe you?’ and they just laughed and said, ‘You don’t owe us anything.’ ”
Goings said he couldn’t understand the charges because he didn’t require transport.
“I’m 67 years old,” he said, “and when fall, I need help getting up.”
Goings’ age is one of the factors that Commissioner Jan Griggs considered when she voted against the 911 charge at the June 2 meeting of the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners.
“When you look at our population, 35 percent of our citizens are over 60,” Griggs said. “I didn’t vote for the 911 charge mainly because with the recent increase in taxes, I didn’t feel it would be prudent to add fees.”
Griggs stood alone in her vote against the charge.
Commissioner Cal Stiles voted with the majority of the board in favor of the $100 charge per call to 911.
“We have to cover the cost for two EMS personnel and a truck,” he said. “The county has paid for it, but we’re trying to cover some of our costs.”
Stiles said the county recently lost a significant revenue stream when Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital in Peachtree stopped using the Cherokee County EMS service to transport patients to their sister hospital in Chattanooga, Tenn.
“That was a $450K loss,” he said.
Cherokee County Emergency Services Manager Robin Caldwell presented the proposal to the commissioners, telling them surrounding counties have long charged for making a 911 call.
“If you’ll check,” Stiles said, “all the counties around us do charge, and more than that ($100).”
Brian Stevens, emergency services manager for Graham County, confirmed Stiles’ statement.
“I’ve been here for 23 years,” he said, “and we’ve been charging longer than that.” He added, “EMS isn’t free; it’s an expensive undertaking for the county.”
Goings got off easily with a $100 charge. That same call from Graham County would have cost him $404.12.
Cherokee County residents may not resist these charges as much if insurance would help mitigate the costs. That was Stiles’ opinion, and one of the reasons he felt comfortable voting yes.
“My assumption is that Medicaid and Medicare covered part of the cost,” Stiles said.
Christy Goings has an answer to that.
“It says right here on the bill, ‘Medicaid and Medicare will not cover these costs,’ ” she said.
When asked how much he projected the county will receive in revenue from charging citizens this fee, Stiles said, “I don’t know how much we save. It’s not a huge number, I don’t think.”
Stiles recommended revisiting the issue in a few months to see how it’s working. However, that won’t offer Goings and others any relief.
“The commissioners didn’t even bother to tell us,” she said.
Christy is chipping away at her bill, but Paul is less resigned.
“I feel like I got ripped off. I didn’t ask for an ambulance; I asked for assistance,” he said. “They are in and out in less than 15 minutes.”