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Blue Island approves fee allowing billing to nursing facilities after six lift-assists
Summary
The council approved a code amendment (section 32-021) allowing the city to charge nursing facilities for repeated lift-assist emergency responses after six incidents per facility per calendar year; city staff clarified billing goes to the facility, not the patient.
The Blue Island City Council voted Jan. 28 to add a new charge to the city code that will allow billing nursing facilities for repeated emergency "lift-assist" responses.
Under the approved amendment, a facility may be billed after six free lift-assist responses in a single calendar year. City staff clarified during discussion that the charge is assessed per facility rather than per patient and that billing will be directed to the facility rather than the individual resident.
A staff speaker said the policy change is intended to encourage facilities to maintain adequate staffing so they are not relying on emergency responders as a routine lift-assist service. "The billing goes straight to the facility. It doesn't have to go to the patient," a staff member explained during the meeting.
Councilors confirmed the six-assist threshold applies per calendar year and discussed operational details, including how staff would track counts and address billing. The ordinance was approved by roll call.
Next steps identified in the meeting record include administrative implementation to track assists, create billing procedures and publish the new fee schedule in accordance with city code.
