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Home My WebLink About2011 Ordinance No. 020BY AlTTHORITY QR; liNANCE NO..l) SERIES OF 20 I : COUNCIL BILL NO. 22 MRODUCED BY COUNCIL MEMBER WILSON .A.N ()\UJl~,\"-I CE AMENDING TITLE 7. CHAPTER 7. SECTION 7, OF THE ENGLEWOOD MUNICU•,I.L CODE 2000 , PERTAINING TO EMERGENCY MEDICAL TRANSPORT FEES . WHEREAS , in 1994, The City of Englewood amended the Englewood Municipal Code regarding ambulance 1ransport fees 10 provide for a twenry percent (20%) subsidy for Englewood resid:nts and established an EMS Billing Comminec to review appeals and protests ; and WHEREAS , the City was notified by the Colorado Division of Insurance Department of regulatory agencies Iha! this SLJSidy may be a violation of the state statutes; and WH F.REAS, becaus e of the ambiguity associated with this subsidy and significant changes in :J1r ':isurance indusu,·, thi s subsidy should be eliminated while keeping the option for patients wl;o arc facing a financial hnrdslup to ask for some relief; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ENGLEWOOD. COLORADO, AS FOLLOWS : ··-.,:,:ti on 1. The City Cow1cil of 1he City of Engl ewood1 Colorado hereby auth orizes amend ing T i .. :;, Chapter 7, Section 7, "Emergency Medical Transport Fees", of the EoglewooJ Municipal Co~e 2000 , to read as follows : 7-7-7: Emergency Medical Transport Fees . A. A fee shall be charged for any person transported by the Englewood Fire Division . The fee established shall be the usual and customary charge for such service m this commwtity . Too Cill' ,hall eontFieulo a tu•oelj• po,oonl (201,) subsidy 10 !011@!0 • ••ii ~- B. "Transport" shall mean the actual physical transport from one place in or near the City lo another place by the use of transport equipment of the City of Englewood. C. The City Manager shall cause to ha\'e promulgated in writing reasonable billing and collection procedures . D. An ambulance billing review panel, consisting of members of the commwti1y and City staff, shall be established by the Ci1y Manager to hear appeals and protests , and to make adjustments to transpo11 fee billings when deemed reasonable and appropriate. Unless otherwise de1ennined 'ailurc to pay the fee established shall constitute a violation of this Section . E. The effective dale for uupkmelllatiou of tltis Seclion will be January I, 1995 . 9 b iii Seel ion 2. ~•fety Cjanses. The Ci1y Council hereby finds. detcnnincs , and declare s thnl thi s Ordi:mncc is promulgated under the general police power of t he C ity of Englewood, tha1 11 is pro1:1ulgnted for the health, safety, ::md welf1re of the public , nrnl thm this Ordinance is necessnry fo r the prcs:::rv;nion of health and sa fety und for :he protecti o11 of pub li c convenience ;111d wclfa n.!. The Chy Coundl fu1thc:· dctcrminr.s that 1hc Ord irnmc: bcurs D rntional rclnllo n to the proper legislative objee1 sought to b, cht aincd Section 3. Scvcrn:Jility . If any clause, sentence, pnrnb'Taph, or part of 1hii Ordinance or th e application thereof to any person or circum:nanecs shall for any reason be ad Judged by a court of competent jurisdiction invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impu ir or invalidate the remainder o r this Ordinance or it application to other persons or circumstam.:t:s. Section 4 . lncons1stcnt Ordinances, All 01hcr Ordinan ces or portion$ thereof inconsist ent or con11icting with this Ordinance or any portion hcrcor arc hereb y repealed to th e extent o f such im::onsislcncy or conflict. Section 5. Effect of repeal or modificat ion. The repeal ur motli£ic.t :iu11 uf any provision o f tbe Code ot'lhe Ci ty of !;nglcwood by this Ordina i:cc shaJ ; 1101 release, extinb'llish , a lier, mod ify, or change in wh ole or in par1 any penalty, forfeiture, vr hab1lit y, either civil or criminal, which shall 1:n ve been in cu rred nndcr such pr ov isio n, and cod; provi sion shall be treated and held as still remai, ·ng in force for the purposes of sustaining any and a~i proper actions : su :ts , prnr.e.r.clings, :md prosecutions fo:-thc enforcement of the penalty, tmfeitllrC, or liability, as well as for the purpose of sustai11111,; any juclgmr.111, dec1 ce, or order whi c~, can or may be rendered, entered, or made in sue:, uctions, suits, procceJing;, or ;,rosecutio,,i: Section 6. Penalty. The Penalty Provision o f Section 1-4-1 EMC shall ;.1pply to each and every viul;.uiun of Ll1is Ordirn1m.a::. Introduced, read in full, a nd passe d on first r<ading on the I 8th day of April, 201 I . Published by Title as a Bill for an Ordinance in the City's •Jilicial newspaper on the 22nd day of April, 201 I. Published as a Bill for an Ordinance on 1he C:i1y's official website beginning on the 20th da y of April , 201 I for thirty (30) da)'S. Kc.id by title and µasseJ on fin al read1•1g on lhe 2nd day of Ma y, 2011 Published by title in the Cily'; official nc--spapcr as Ordinance No~. Series of 201 1, on the 6th day of May, 201 I. Publ ished by title on the City's official website beginning on 1he 4th day of May, 2011 for thiny (]0) days . fl I, Lou,·.rishia A. Ellis, City Clerk of the City of Englc v.uod, Colorado, hereby c<.'!"i fv that the abo\'c and ~orcgoing is a true copy of the Ordinllrlcc passed on final reading and published by title as Orr ' :nance No~ Series of 20 I I. . /1 ~'£ ->~~:'-J Y'" 'Loucrishia A. Ellis COUNCIL COMMUI\ICATION Dale: Agenda Item: Subject: April '8, 2011 9 a ii Amendment to Englewood Municipal Code pertaining lo Emergency Transport cees Initiated R)': I Slaff Source: Fire D epartm ent Mike Pat'arozz i, Fire Chief COUNCIL GOAL AND PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION Cou nci l h;,.s re viewe d this amenrl11ent and alternativ'-'s m past study sess ions . R[COMM(NDED ACTION Staff would like to recommend to City Coun cil that Englewood Municipal Code 7-7-7 Section A, pertaining to Emer gency M edical Transport Fees, be revi sed lo comply with Fed eral and State Statutes and curren: in surance regulat ory requirements . Staff is recommending that th e last sentence of Section A : "The City shall contriaute a twenty percent (20%) sub sid y to En gle wood residents .'' be dele ted from the ordinance. BACKGROUND, ANALYSIS, AND ALTERNATIVES IDENTIFIED The issues related to E.M.C. 7-7-7 as it is currently written were presented to Council in a memo to Mayor Wnorlwarrl and M emhe rs nf C:n ttn r il, rlaterl f)eremher 1, 2010. Staff has researched numero us options, including sev eral suggest ed by Council members, to resolve the conflicts in herent to the ordir.ance as ii st ands. Most have regulat ory or logistical p roblems that make them unworkable. Deletion oi th e claus e ca llin g ior a 20% subs idy will eliminate th e conflicls, while slill allowing residents to apply for a reduct ion in th ei r ambulance transport fee based on financi al hardship. Pro viding residents with the option of requ es ting a redur . n based on hardship rne 0 's both reg ul atory and logisti ca l concern, and addresses the intent of th e original ordinance l\n y reduc tion in th e ambulance transport fee w ould be applied to the outstanding balance after hsura~ce payments, including Medicare and M ed icaid, are appli ed to th e initial fee . FINANCIAL IMPACT Any financial impact to the City wi ll be dependant on th e number of requests for c on sideration based on hardship re ce ived ior review by :he EMS liilling Committee. UST OF ATTACHMENTS Propose d Bill for an Or dinance