INDIANOLA, Iowa — Starting Tuesday, the cost of an ambulance ride in Indianola will go up as much as 30 percent.

Emergency service fees for the community have not increased in five years, but the city’s fire department’s costs have increased around three to five percent annually, according to Fire Chief Aaron Hurt, who was appointed chief in December.

At a city council meeting in June, the Chief said this 30 percent increase would bring $30,000 in additional revenue to help the department cover the cost of providing emergency services.

“It’s just to help reimburse us for what we’re already paying. We’re not going to break even or nearly break even with this,” Hurt said to the council members.

Hurt proposed two plans to increase the billing rate. The first increased the rate by 30 percent at once and the other was a gradual increase over the next three years. The council ultimately approved raising the fee by 30 percent at once. This increase goes into effect on July 1.

Hurt said much of the cost will be covered by insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid.

“This only affects really a small portion, which would be the noninsured or those that have insurance that don’t have those contracted rates with the city. Those people would see the increase and those would be the ones that feel it,” he said.

This increase would still keep the cost of an ambulance ride in Indianola less than the state’s average, but it would be on the higher end compared to other metro communities.

“The difference being that we don’t have a county hospital out here in Indianola. And so, we have about a two-hour turnaround time from the time the call for services dispatch to the time our units get back on service. There’s a lot more expenses incurred for us to provide he service, as compared to our metro counterparts,” he said.

At the council meeting, Hurt said the station has four ambulances. The newest was acquired in 2018 and has 92,000 miles on it. Ambulances are typically used for seven years or until they hit 150,000 miles, but Hurt said their other three units are well past being replaced.

Indianola EMS takes between six to 10 trips to Des Moines hospitals every day.