As an Palm Desert resident, you are protected from any out-of-pocket costs related to emergency paramedic and ambulance transportation services.

As part of the Billing Program, Medicare, Medi-Cal, Medicaid, and private insurance companies are billed directly to recover costs incurred from the medical emergency. The recovered costs are only those collected from the amounts that health insurance providers will pay, and the remainder of the bill will be waived, therefore resulting in no out-of-pocket costs for residents of the Cove Community Cities (Indian Wells, Palm Desert, and Rancho Mirage).

NOTE: Palm Desert residents DO NOT need to register for this program. Your resident status makes you automatically eligible.

Transported residents may receive a Request for Insurance Information form from the Cove Community’s billing provider, Wittman Enterprises. Wittman Enterprises, an outside public agency contracted by the City, bills the insurance providers of residents who are transported by a city ambulance.

In accordance with HIPAA privacy regulations, this Request for Information form will only be viewed by Wittman Enterprises to ensure the confidentiality and security of protected information. The Request for Insurance information form allows the City to recover the portion of the cost for service covered by Medicare, Medi-Cal, Medicaid and Private Companies.

• Emergency Medical Services Billing Program Fee Schedule
• Click here to view a sample of the request for information form

On January 11, 2018, the Emergency Medical Services Insurance Billing Program (Billing Program) went into effect for the City of Palm Desert. An amendment to the Billing Program resolution was adopted on March 14, 2024, to ensure compliance with Assembly Bill 716, which was signed into law on October 8, 2023.

For any questions regarding a received bill, please contact Wittman Enterprises at 800-906-6552. For all other related matters, please contact Daniel Hurtado at extension 414 or via email at dhurtado@palmdesert.gov.