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Council clarifies “soft billing” policy; adds commercial properties and confirms residency requirement
Summary
City staff briefed council on clarifying the city’s soft-billing practice so that it applies to commercial property owners for fire responses, explained how insurance is collected, and confirmed the policy continues to forgive balances only for tax-paying city residents; council advanced the item to the agenda.
North Canton City Council considered a clarification to the city’s billing practice for emergency medical services and fire responses, known as “soft billing,” to explicitly include commercial property owners in the policy.
Staff said the agenda item does not change current practice but adds language to existing ordinances so commercial property owners who receive fire services in the city are covered by the same soft-billing approach that forgives differences between insurance reimbursements and billed balances for city residents. Staff emphasized the policy applies only when the patient is a tax-paying resident of North Canton; if the person is not a city resident, the city will pursue usual billing practices.
Staff described the operational flow: insurance information is collected at the time of service when possible; claims timelines for medical billing typically allow at least about 60 days of claim activity before the city turns delinquent balances to outside collection. Staff said the city uses a state collection process through the Ohio Attorney General’s office for older delinquencies, which can include withholding state tax refunds.
Council voted to move the soft-billing clarification to the full council agenda for consideration.
