The following fees shall be charged by the city for emergency ambulance service and transfer ambulance service:
(1) 
Basic life support emergency service, five hundred fifty dollars ($550.00) per person per trip.
(2) 
Advanced life support emergency service:
(A) 
Level 1 (ALS1), seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00) per person per trip.
(B) 
Level 2 (ALS2), eight hundred fifty dollars ($850.00) per person per trip.
(3) 
Transporting a patient picked up from a location within the limits of the city and transported to a location beyond the limits of the city, providing said ambulance service initially transported said patient into the city and is making the return trip.
(4) 
For all ambulance service there shall be charged a fee of thirteen dollars ($13.00) per each mile traveled with the patient or “loaded mile,” in addition to the other applicable fees.
(5) 
With the approval of the city council, the city may contract with other governmental entities at rates established in the contract.
(6) 
For purposes of this section, “basic life support emergency service” shall mean aggravated assault, alcohol intoxication, asthma, auto accident, bite/sting, convulsions, cuts/bruises, diabetic, dyspnea, fainted, female complaint, flue, fracture, G.I. complaint, hypervent, hypoglycemia, maternity, muscular/skeletal, psychiatric, seizure, other.
(7) 
For the proposes of this section, “advance life support emergency service” shall mean burns, drowning, drug reaction, electrocution, emergency transfer, emphysema, gunshot, cardiac, medical emergency, overdose, poisoning, shock, stabbing, stroke/CVA, suffocation, suicide, spine/brain, high risk infant.
(8) 
Any category as listed in subsection (6) can be elevated to an advanced life support response if circumstances require the use of any invasive procedure, cardiac monitoring, or drug administration.
(9) 
Any category listed in subsection (7) can be decreased to a basic life support response if circumstances do not require any invasive procedure, cardiac monitoring, or drug administration.
(10) 
The fire department is authorized to implement the Lifeline program. The Lifeline program is a program that provides twenty-four-hour emergency ambulance service for all family members, including children under the age of twenty-five (25) residing in the dwelling unit and listed as dependents on the income tax return of the family. The rate shall be sixty-nine dollars ($69.00) per year per household plus assignment of any insurance proceeds for such service due under the member’s insurance coverage or Medicare. The membership shall cover the portion unreimbursed by the member’s medical coverage for services rendered by the city’s fire department emergency medical services during the period of membership. The service shall not include transfer service. The city shall reserve its governmental immunity and provide such service on an emergency basis as provided by city ordinances. The purchaser must agree to execute any documents reasonably necessary to assign the insurance coverage or Medicare. Membership may be terminated for failure to comply with the conditions, for example, requesting service in a nonemergency situation. Membership is also nonrefundable and nontransferable. The Lifeline program is not insurance. Membership enrollment periods shall be October 1 through December 31 of each calendar year for the coverage period beginning January 1 and ending December 31 of the following calendar year. The fire department may adopt any reasonable regulations or terms to further implement this service. Participation by Medicaid recipients in this program is not permitted by the state.
(11) 
In the event of extraordinary circumstances, the city manager is authorized to establish a rate based on such extraordinary circumstances.
(12) 
A “no-transport” rate or fee of seventy-five dollars ($75.00) shall be charged when a person makes a 911 call for EMS and then on arrival refuses to be transported. The fee will not be charged if the call is initiated by a third person, such as a police officer, and the patient decides not to go.
(13) 
A fee for air ambulance in which a patient is transported shall be charged and collected by the provider, which sum shall be paid to the city to defray the costs of medical regulation of the system. The fee shall be set at $1,500.00 per flight.
(Ordinance 98-20, sec. 1, adopted 2/24/98; Ordinance 99-41, sec. 1, adopted 8/24/99; Ordinance 2000-24, sec. 1, adopted 8/8/00; Ordinance 2002-03, sec. 1, adopted 1/8/02; Ordinance 2003-36, sec. 1, adopted 9/9/03; 1957 Code, sec. 3A-1; Ordinance 2010-09, sec. 1, adopted 3/23/10; Ordinance 2019-26 adopted 8/13/19)
The city fire department will be the sole provider of emergency 911 generated ambulance responses. All other emergency generated responses must meet the conditions of division 4 of this article, and it shall be unlawful for a private ambulance service to respond to an emergency under emergency circumstances unless it complies with the provisions in division 4 of this article.
(Ordinance 98-20, sec. 1, adopted 2/24/98; 1957 Code, sec. 3A-2)
(a) 
Hardship assistance is also known under the Healthcare Financial Management Association as “charity care.” The director of the department of billing and collection or his or her designee shall promulgate all forms, policies, and guidelines, and establish procedures necessary to establish eligibility of uninsured patients for hardship assistance and/or financial assistance and to implement and enforce the provisions of this section. The policy for hardship assistance and/or financial assistance must:
(1) 
Adhere to the hardship assistance/charity care principles of the Healthcare Financial Management Association Principles and Practices Board Statement 15;
(2) 
Be in compliance with any standards or limitations required by title 1, section 355.8210 of the Texas Administrative Code, as amended from time to time, and any standards or limitations required by the federal or state agencies providing reimbursement to the city for the costs of uncompensated hardship assistance for the city’s fire rescue’s provision of emergency medical services and ambulance services; and
(3) 
Exclude bad debt, courtesy allowances and discounts, if any, given to patients who are not eligible for hardship assistance or financial assistance from the city.
(b) 
The director of the department of billing and collection or his or her designee shall apply a credit to the account of a patient that the director determines financially eligible for hardship assistance and/or financial assistance. The credit amount shall be in accordance with the policies and guidelines promulgated under this section.
(Ordinance 2022-07 adopted 4/26/22)