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.
(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)
