Zion updates EMS billing structure; chief says residents won't be repeatedly sent to collections, hardship waivers handled case by case

The Zion City Council on May 20 approved updates to the city's emergency medical services billing structure designed to align local rates with recent federal and insurer practices and to address collection and hardship cases.

Chief Street presented the update and told the council the main driver is alignment with rates used by the federally funded Ground Emergency Medical Transport program (referred to in the presentation as G E N T). He said audits showed discrepancies between G E N T rates and amounts paid by some carriers, and that some insurers have requested refunds where rates did not match.

"Our annual provider affirmative to the local base to our EMS billing structure [is] based on multiple factors. The biggest being that our current rates cannot align with recent G E N T program rates," Chief Street said. "For those that don't…