New Law: Ambulance claims left to the state

There are two means for licensed ambulance services to obtain the state’s help in collecting unpaid charges — by submitting revenue recapture claims directly to the Department of Revenue, or by having the county in which the ambulance service operates submit the claims on behalf of the ambulance service. The Department of Revenue then offsets the claims against any state payments due to the taxpayer who hasn’t paid the ambulance service, such as income tax refunds, property tax refunds or lottery winnings.

A new law clarifies the department’s authority to do what it’s already doing — accepting claims directly from ambulance services, according to the law’s sponsor, Rep. Greg Davids (R-Preston).

The law, also sponsored by Sen. Julianne Ortman (R-Chanhassen), eliminates the authority for counties to act as collecting agents and charge fees to ambulance service to offset the cost of submitting claims on their behalf. An ambulance service that is owed money could turn to the department to address the claim.

The law is effective May 25, 2011.

HF258*/ SF217/CH71