The Village of Ridgewood hereby establishes a third-party
billing plan for the Department of Emergency Services (R.E.S) to receive
payment for providing emergency medical services to its residents
and other persons designated pursuant to mutual aid agreements with
surrounding communities.
Certain fees are established for said emergency services to cover the costs of providing transportation and other treatment to said individuals, said fees to be set forth in Chapter 145, § 145-6, of the Code of the Village of Ridgewood as it pertains to Chapter 137.
The third-party billing plan shall engage in "insurance-only
billing" as it pertains to individual Village of Ridgewood residents
for whom emergency medical services are provided, which means it will
accept as payment only what is paid by the resident's health insurance
plan or Medicare/Medicaid and shall not bill for any deductibles,
copays or other balance due. This policy is established because the
majority of residents in the Village contribute in some manner to
the tax base of the Village, which financially supports R.E.S. through
the annual budget.
The third-party billing plan reserves the right to bill nonresident individuals (whether privately or Medicare/Medicaid covered and those uninsured) for whom emergency medical services are provided up to the full amount of fees established by ordinance in Chapter 145, § 145-6, as it pertains to Chapter 137.
The Director of Ridgewood Emergency Services shall
be responsible for the administration of the plan and act in consultation
with the Village Manager's Office and Village's Financial Office in
that capacity.
The Village's Chief Financial Officer shall annually
adjust the fees to charged for said emergency medical services. Said
fees shall be annually adjusted no later than the first day of March
in the year following the adoption of the within chapter. Said adjustments
shall be made in consultation with the Director of Emergency Services.
A certified copy of this chapter shall be filed with
the applicable federal and state agencies.
If any section, paragraph, subsection, sentence
or any part of this chapter is adjudged unconstitutional or invalid,
such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder
of this chapter.