Fire Billing

Fire Department Cost Recovery Services

Health Claims Plus offers a comprehensive cost recovery program, allow Health Claims Plus to add another income stream to your Fire Department.

With the budget crisis, many Fire Departments around the United States are feeling their own operating budget crunch. Now is the time to look for viable options, now is the time to look at Health Claims Plus to actively pursue money from the Insurance Agencies to assist you in cost recovery.

Health Claims Plus has been providing Fire Cost Recovery programs since 1998; we have built a strong relationship with the Insurance Agencies to know how to get your claims processed the first time.

We offer billing for re-payment to local fire departments for:

• Motor Vehicle Incidents
• Hazmat Clean-up
• Pipeline Incidents (gas, sewer, etc.)
• Power Line Incidents
• Vehicle Fires
• Structure Fires
• Fire Investigation Service
• Special Rescue
• Water Incidents
• And More...

Health Claims Plus also offers customized Incident Reports or the Electronic Incident Reports by http://www.emergencyreporting.com.

This program is available to all Fire Departments – volunteer, county, city, and municipal.

Call today to find out how you can get paid for the services you provide.

Fire Billing:  Frequently Asked Questions 

I.  If a fire department sends out bills for its services, does it lose its non-profit status?

• The billings are a method of “cost recovery” intended to help ensure the departments continued ability to provide those services.  Billings are not intended to provide the department with a method of making a profit and will not jeopardize a fire department’s non-profit status.

II.  How will the taxpayers and supporters of our community view the fire department if we start billing for our services?

• The department needs additional funds to continue providing services at an appropriate level.  If you had enough money to fully support your operation, you would not be considering billing for your services.  If the community is informed of your need for additional funds and is made to understand that you will be receiving funds from insurance policies, rather than raising taxes or asked for more contributions, there should be no issue.

III.  How will the billings affect the insurance policies of individuals or the insurance policies of other community members?

• You first need to understand that many insurance policies already contain provisions for the payment of fire department services.  With regards to the price of insurance being affected by your billing for services, any increase in cost or cancellation of an individual’s insurance will be a result of the “incident.”  Your charge for services will only be a portion of the costs.

IV.  Can the department bill the insurance company and not the local individual or business?

• Yes, at your direction we will only bill the insurance company.

V.  Will the department be paid for every “Incident for Billing Report” form submitted for billing?

• No, some insurance policies will not cover costs associated with your department’s services.  Additionally, the department may have to negotiate and accept reduced amounts of payment due to lower insurance limits of coverage.

VI.  What happens if a bill is not paid?

• In the case of the insurance company, we will request a clarification of why the bill is not being paid and ask for reconsideration of the billing.  With individuals or businesses we will, with your permission in each case, turn the billing over for collections.

VII.  If tax payers and contributors have paid for the department’s equipment and costs of operations, how do you justify billing for services?

• Not every incident will involve a local community member or taxpayer.  They must understand that due to rising costs, the growing number of incidents, and the increasing complexity and demands of providing these services, that current funding from traditional sources is no longer adequate to sustain the required level of service.