Countywide : Ambulance Firm Settles D.A.’s Suit

A Brea ambulance firm has agreed to pay a $30,000 fine and make restitution in order to settle a consumer protection lawsuit filed Monday by the district attorney’s office.

Ambulance Service Inc. admitted no wrongdoing in agreeing to settle the lawsuit, which alleged that the firm billed both patients and their insurers for ambulance transportation. The double-billing resulted in some overpayments that were never refunded, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Michelle M. Lyman.

To her knowledge, Lyman said, this was the county’s first double-billing case against an ambulance firm.

The company’s owners, Philip and Teresa Davis, have already paid more than $70,000 in refunds and have agreed to pay back any additional overpayments that are discovered in the future, Lyman said.

The Davises could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The district attorney’s office requests that anyone with information about an overpayment that has not been refunded call investigator Edward Miller at (714) 568-1200.

Lyman said a former ambulance company employee called her office and acted as an informant in the case. She said she does not know how much money may still be owed in refunds.