The commissioners have been working on what they believe will be an equitable and fair billing process for those townships and municipalities they have contracts with. Monday, the majority of those townships made their voices heard as they are against the proposal they were given. Stating that dispatch services is a countywide issue and should be handled by the county even if it may need to go to the voters.

“That doesn’t mean we’re cutting fire dispatch. Ok, we’re still dispatching for fire and we will continue no matter what the dispatch for fire because I will never let that take place. However, the manner in which we do it is going to change.”

Getting a surprise bill in the mail from an out of network medical provider could be a thing of the past with a new law that took effect this year.  Senator Sherrod Brown’s “No Surprises Act” took effect on January 1st.   The new law bans most forms of surprise billing from emergency situations and when a person seeks care from an in-network facility, but unknowingly gets care from an out of network provider.  A report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that one and five American patients have gotten a surprise bill following a elective surgery or after given birth at an in-network facility.

City of Lima utility customers are noticing something new in the mail.