Albany's Ambulance Base Rate Rises to $2,200. For a Vehicle Accident, It Starts at $2,950.

Albany City Council adopted a resolution adjusting ambulance service fees on May 27, 2026, as part of its consent agenda. The new rates take effect June 1, 2026.

The new base rate for an ambulance dispatch is $2,200. Calls classified as motor vehicle accidents carry a higher base rate of $2,950, plus $32 per loaded mile — the distance the patient travels in the ambulance. The resolution was presented by Chris LaBelle and passed without separate discussion as part of the consent package.

Consent agenda items are grouped together for a single vote and are approved without individual debate unless a councilor pulls an item for separate consideration. No councilor requested that the ambulance fee resolution be pulled.

Ambulance fees are billed to patients and their insurers. For people with Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance, the insurer typically negotiates the rate or pays a portion of it. For uninsured or underinsured patients, the billed amount is the starting point for whatever the city's payment and hardship accommodation process allows.

Albany's ambulance service operates under the city. The fee adjustment follows a structure common to municipalities that set rates to recover operating costs and align with what insurance reimbursement systems will recognize.

The records to watch are the full resolution adopted on May 27 (which includes the complete fee schedule beyond the base and MVA rates), any hardship waiver or payment plan policy the city maintains for uninsured patients, and prior-year ambulance fee schedules for comparison. The resolution is attached to the May 27 agenda packet, which is a public record available through the City Recorder's office.