By Kevin Heyboer
Guest Columnist
I am appalled at the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners’ continual desire to be the defendant in a class-action lawsuit. The last time I checked, the commission was required to post a public notice for changes in any county ordinances, or new ordinances, on the agenda. This allows citizens to address the commission with any concerns regarding said changes.
I checked back issues of the Cherokee Scout prior to the June 2 commission meeting, where this $100 per service call by Cherokee County Emergency Medical Services charge was enacted. I saw public notices for the Andrews fire hydrant ordinance in three issues prior to that meeting. I also saw a public notice for changes by the state regarding persons with disabilities in education, and I saw the entire tax lien list for the Town of Murphy.
However, I saw no notice regarding this particular agenda item. The Sept. 7 edition of the Scout included a public notice regarding the Cherokee County Transit System.
I don’t care if Graham County does it. The idea of charging for EMS response is just wrong on its face. We pay taxes for these services. The meter on the bill should not start until one is loaded in the ambulance, as it has always been in the past.
Also, if the bill comes from the government, then there must be a due process clause that allows for a method of appeal pursuant the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I have never lived anywhere that charged for an EMS response, only for transport.
I am one of the lucky ones in that my medical insurance has a special rider that pays 100 percent for ambulance fees. However, I am not sure they would pay if EMS came to my house, but I was not transported to the hospital.
Who are they billing if they are sent to a traffic crash based upon a third-party caller who is unable to advise if there are any injuries? Who pays if a deputy sheriff calls EMS to check the victim of an alleged assault, even if said victim refuses medical treatment? Do criminal suspects injured as a result of resisting arrest get charged $100 when law enforcement summons EMS to the scene, as law enforcement is required to do?
What’s next? We pay a separate tax for our volunteer fire department. Are they going to start charging to extinguish our house on fire? Is the sheriff going to start charging for the law enforcement services we already pay for with our property and sales taxes?
This is exactly the reason that I did not vote for one incumbent commissioner.
The writer is a resident of Cherokee County.