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The free ride may soon be over for thousands of citizens who use a North Texas ambulance service and then refuse to pay.

MedStar wants to collect at least part of the bill from Tarrant County cities.

If MedStar were meant to be a profit-making business it would have long since closed its doors.

For every dollar the ambulance service charges customers, they only receive about 25 cents back

From Robin Cook, whose mother depends on MedStar, complications of diabetes sometimes lead to frightened calls to 911.

The bill for each trip, before insurance, is more than $1,100.

"It's something you gotta do," Cook says.

But not everyone shares Cook's sense of financial responsibility.

The majority of MedStar patients don't pay their bills, leaving patients with private insurance -- a minority of customers -- to fund the majority of the budget.

"You can certainly argue that it's not fair," says MedStar Executive Director Jack Eades.

Patients aren't the only ones passing the buck...

Fifteen cities use Medstar's services. About half, led by Fort Worth, pay a subsidy to Medstar that discounts their citizens ambulance bills and eases the financial burden for Medstar.

But seven cities, Blue Mound, Haltom City, River Oaks, Saginaw, Edgecliff Village, Westworth Village and White Settlement, pay no subsidy.

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Ambulance service may cost some cities.

It's crippling Medstar and Eades says it has to stop.

"We will continue to have to increase the bill, and the bill will more than likely be paid by fewer and fewer individuals," he said.

Wednesday, Eades presented the Ambulance Authority Board with a plan to negotiate new contracts with cities, requiring they pay $5.17 for every person in their city.

Eades knows cities may try to pass the subsidy on to residents in the form of taxes, but for Cook, it's a price that must be paid.

"For my mom," she says. "It's worth the money."

Medstar plans to start negotiating with cities in January. The ambulance service hopes to start collecting the subsidy in October.