User Fees and User Fee Regulation Process. 1. The County finds that regulating ambulance service fees is necessary to ensure availability, sustainability and adequacy of ambulance services in the County. The following fees are hereby established by the County exercising sound legislative judgment and shall be the only allowable ambulance service fees to be charged and collected in the County for both private and public ambulances. The following shall be the County mandated rates and the Contractor shall charge these rates (“User Fee”). ALS Emergency $1,170.00 ALS Emergency Lexxx 0 $1,300.00 ALS Non-Emergency $950.00 BLS Emergency $1,020.00 BLS Non-Emergency $800.00 Specialty Care Transport (CCT) $1,500.00 ALS/BLS Mileage (per mile) $19.33 per mile Treatment with No Transport Charge $150.00 Except for charity care, there shall be no discounts permitted to these User Fee and no private or public ambulance provider shall charge any fees other than the fees set forth herein. These fees shall become effective October 1, 2022 and are subject to change as set forth herein.
2. User fee increase— On an annual basis on July 1st (starting July 1, 2023) and until the termination of this Agreement, the Contractor shall be entitled to increase the rates using the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI for Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Xxxxx, FL – All Urban Consumers (“Area CPI”). To ensure the rate increase is in place on each July 1st, the parties will use the Area CPI for the previous twelve (12) month period for which published figures are then available (provided Contractor notify the County EMS Administrator by June 1st). The Area CPI shall be adjusted to compensate for the Contractor’s collection rate by utilizing the average of the Contractor’s most recent annual collection rate for Services performed in the County. Formula: Area CPI divided by Contractor’s annual average collection rate equals the net CPI increase (“Net CPI Increase”). For example, if the Area CPI inflation rate increases 2% and Contractor’s average collection rate is 50%, the Net CPI Increase shall equal 4% (2% ÷ 50%).
3. Extraordinary Rate Increases — The County understands that certain economic variances occur beyond the control of the Contractor including but not limited to, governmental actions, fuel increases, supply chain issues, world events, pandemics, etc. It is the County’s intent to reduce the risk of economic loss to the Contractor for these factors as much as possible. The County shall allow negotiated cost increases to...
User Fees and User Fee Regulation Process. 1. User fee increase Fee increases must be submitted to the BOCC for approval at least45 days prior to implementation
2. Annual renegotiations of certain factors permitted The County understands that certain economic variances occur beyond the control of the Contractor. It is the County’s intent to reduce the risk of economic loss to the Contractor for these factors as much as possible. The County considers all factors related to labor and equipment to be within the control of the Contractor, and therefore no negotiated annual cost increases other than as provided in section 2 above for those factors shall be allowed. The County shall allow negotiated cost increases to the extent of documented increases in the Contractor's actual costs of production directly resulting from increases in prices paid by the Contractor for major changes in the standard of care (consistent with industry practice and as may be approved by the County), or federal or state regulatory requirements which increase the Contractor’s production costs. County shall also allow negotiated user fee increases in the event that there are substantial changes in federal reimbursement policy, which materially adversely affect the Contractor’s operation. User fee increases to offset negotiated production cost adjustments shall be allowed on a prospective basis only and shall not be allowed retroactive. Should the County and the Contractor reach an impasse in negotiated rate increases, as outlined in this section, either party may require that the matter be submitted to non-binding pre-suit or post-suit mediation in Columbia County, Florida, or a state court of competent jurisdiction in Columbia County, Florida.
3. Notwithstanding the above provisions, the County acknowledges that the Contractor cannot sustain continued operating losses from providing it services under the terms of this Agreement and affirms the Contractor’s right to generate a reasonable profit from its standalone EMS/911 operations. The County acknowledges that a 10% operating profit (operating profit defined as EBITDA; Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) as a reasonable earnings threshold. To that end, the Contractor agrees to provide (1) monthly standalone 911 financial statements and (2) a quarterly financial review of its 911 operations; all financial statements will be prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). To the extent the Contractor’s annual standalone 91...
User Fees and User Fee Regulation Process. 1. The maximum average fee per transport (calculated after all standard contract adjustments are made by payor) will be calculated annually (including the base rate, mileage, and all add on charges for Ambulance services within the County but excluding any long-distance transports and divided by the total number of local transports per year). Documentation of calculation methodologies and supporting materials will be submitted to the Contract Administrator semi-annually. Except as otherwise provided herein, the maximum average fee for transport will not exceed $696.90 (calculated after all standard contract adjustments are made by payor but without including the cost of providing services to financial hardship patients). Should the maximum average fee per transport when calculated for any one-year period exceed the maximum average fee per transport authorized under this agreement, then the maximum average fee shall be adjusted downward for a period sufficient to rectify the aggregate amount overcharged in the previous reporting period.
