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leave large geographic areas without any <br />ambulance service and undermine <br />emergency response to mass casualty <br />incidents. <br />In addition, the liability exposure of medical <br />directors associated with ambulance service <br />is a concern. While medical directors of <br />government -based ambulance services may <br />arguably be covered by public official <br />immunity, the law is unclear and should be <br />clarified. <br />Response: The League of Minnesota <br />Cities supports federal legislation that <br />would: <br />a) Require Medicare to set ambulance <br />payment rates at the "national <br />average cost" of providing service; <br />b) Require adequate reimbursement for <br />ambulance providers; <br />c) Establish a "prudent layperson" <br />standard for the payment of <br />emergency ambulance claims such <br />that if a reasonable person believed an <br />emergency medical problem existed <br />when the ambulance was requested, <br />Medicare would pay the claim; <br />d) Make it easier for providers to file <br />claims with Medicare by eliminating a <br />processing system that often leads to <br />the rejection of legitimate <br />reimbursement claims. <br />The League also urges the Legislature to <br />extend the protection of the state and <br />municipal Tort Claims Act to, at a <br />minimum, licensed third parties that <br />contract with a municipality to provide <br />ambulance services. The League also <br />supports extending the applicability of <br />public official immunity to medical <br />directors in the course of ambulance <br />service activities. <br />SD -13. Fees for Service <br />Issue: While general services—such as <br />permitting, inspections or enforcement—are <br />typically funded out of a city's general fund, <br />cities often impose fees to cover the cost of <br />providing certain services, permits, and <br />licenses. <br />The Legislature and interest groups often <br />seek to mandate or preserve fee limitations <br />for city services. Over the last several years, <br />the Legislature has enacted a number of new <br />laws designed to rigorously control local <br />fee -setting authority. Examples of such <br />mandates include placing limits on coin- <br />operated amusement machine license fees, <br />on -sale and off -sale liquor license fees, <br />license fees for retailers selling fireworks, <br />deputy registrar fees and planning and <br />zoning fees. The state also requires cities <br />that collect more than $5,000 in <br />development -related fees each year to <br />annually report all construction and <br />development fees to the Department of <br />Labor and Industry. <br />Response: While the state has a role in <br />providing a general, statewide funding <br />policy, the state should not interfere in the <br />decision-making functions performed by <br />cities when setting city budgets to provide <br />city services. The League of Minnesota <br />Cities seeks authority for cities to charge <br />fees that are reasonably related to the cost <br />of providing the service, permit or license. <br />The League opposes legislation that <br />would require specific methods to pay for <br />city services or would place caps on city <br />fees. <br />SD -14. Improving and Increasing <br />Citizen Access to Information <br />Issue: State law requires that cities publish <br />certain types of information in a "qualified" <br />newspaper designated by the city. While the <br />League of Minnesota Cities <br />2016 City Policies Page 8 <br />