Changes in the way people buy insurance are threatening the money Hampton relies on to support the fire department's ambulance service and will sooner or later force the City Council to a tough choice: asking that patients dig deeper into their own pockets or asking all the city's taxpayers to pick up more of the bill, City Manager Mary Bunting said Wednesday.
The challenge comes as more people opt, or are forced into, health insurance plans that require them to pay more out of their own pockets before the insurer starts covering their bills, so called high deductible policies, assistant city manager Steve Bond told the council at its semi-monthly work session.