This consolidation is unofficial and is for reference only.

For the official version of the regulations, consult the original documents on file with the Registry of Regulations , or refer to the Royal Gazette

Part II .

Regulations are amended frequently.

Please check the list of Regulations by Act to see if there are any recent amendments to these regulations filed with the Registry that are not yet included in this consolidation.

Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this electronic version, the Registry of Regulations assumes no responsibility for any discrepancies that may have resulted from reformatting.

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Ambulance Fee Regulations

made under

Section 17A of the

Health Services and Insurance Act

R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 197

N.S. Reg. 133/2002 (October 24, 2002, effective April 1, 2000)

as amended to N.S. Reg. 179/2015 (March 24, 2015, effective April 1, 2015)

Citation

1 These regulations may be cited as the Ambulance Fee Regulations .

Definitions

2 In these regulations

“acute home care” means the home care program established by the Minister for the

acute care of individuals;

“air ambulance” means an aircraft approved by the Minister to transport persons by

air for the purposes outlined in these regulations;

“approved facility” means a facility listed in

Schedule “A” to these regulations;

“ground ambulance” means a motor vehicle approved by the Minister to transport

persons by land for the purposes outlined in these regulations;

“ambulance transportation” means the transportation of a person by ground

ambulance;

“inter-facility transportation” means ambulance transportation

(

i) between or among approved facilities, and

(ii) from an approved facility to a person’s residence, if the person is

receiving acute home care;

“long-term-care facility” means a nursing home, home for the aged or residential

care facility licensed by the Minister of Health and Wellness under the Homes for

Special Care Act ;

Definition added: N.S. Reg. 138/2012.

“medically essential transportation” means ambulance transportation that begins or

ends at an approved facility, and for greater certainty, does not include inter-facility

transportation or transport of a mobility challenged individual for transportation

purposes;

Definition amended: N.S. Reg. 138/2012.

“mobility challenged individual” means a person who, because of a mental or

physical limitation that has been verified by a physician, requires ambulance

transportation for transportation purposes;

“new Canadian” means a person who is legally entitled to remain in Canada and

moves to Nova Scotia from a place outside of Canada but is not a resident of Nova

Scotia;

“non-Canadian” means a person who is not legally entitled to remain in Canada;

“non-Nova Scotian” means a person who is not a resident of Nova Scotia but is a

resident of a Canadian province or territory;

“Nova Scotia health card number” means the health card number issued by the

Province of Nova Scotia that entitles residents to insured health care services under

the Health Services and Insurance Act ;

“patient care record” means a record of the care provided by a service provider

during ambulance transportation;

“resident” means a person who is legally entitled to remain in Canada and makes

their home and is ordinarily present in Nova Scotia and has lived in Nova Scotia for

a period of not less than 3 months, and for greater certainty, does not include a

tourist, a transient, or a visitor who ordinarily resides outside of Nova Scotia;

“service provider” means a private corporation that has contracted with the Minister

of Health for the delivery of ambulance transportation;

“stipulated third party insured” means a resident or non-Nova Scotian who is

(

i) a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police,

(ii) a member of the Canadian Forces,

(iii) a veteran of the Canadian Forces who is eligible for health care benefits

from Veterans Affairs Canada,

(iv) an inmate of a Federal prison or penitentiary,

(

v) a person with a work related illness or injury and who is eligible for

coverage under the Workers Compensation Act ,

(vi) a person involved in a motor vehicle collision.

Section 2 amended: N.S. Reg. 138/2012.

Ambulance fee

3 Fees for transportation by ambulance shall be billed according to the following table:

Medically Essential

Transportation Fee

Inter-facility

Transportation Fee

Resident

$146.55

Resident living in a long-term-care facility

$54.50

Non-Nova Scotian

$732.95

Non-Canadian

$1099.35

$1099.35

New Canadian

$1099.35

$1099.35

Stipulated third party insured

$732.95

$732.95

Section 3 replaced: N.S. Reg. 155/2004; amended: N.S. Reg. 138/2012; N.S. Reg. 179/2015.

Section 4 repealed: N.S. Reg. 155/2004.

Fees for ground ambulance when combined with air ambulance

(1) Ambulance transportation from an air ambulance to an approved facility is deemed

to be inter-facility ambulance transportation.

(2) Ambulance transportation to an air ambulance is deemed to be medically essential

transportation.

Fee for transportation of mobility challenged individual

(1) A mobility challenged individual who is a resident shall be billed $108.95 for

ambulance transportation that begins or ends at the individual’s place of residence

and is to or from an approved facility, physician’s office, dentist’s office,

physiotherapy facility or respite care facility.

Subsection 6(1) amended: N.S. Reg. 179/2015.

(2) A mobility challenged individual who is a resident shall, while an admitted patient of

an approved facility, be billed $108.95 for ambulance transportation that begins or

ends at the approved facility and is to or from a physician’s office, dentist’s office,

physiotherapy facility or respite care facility.

Subsection 6(2) amended: N.S. Reg. 179/2015.

Section 6 replaced: N.S. Reg. 138/2012.

Fee for transportation of human remains

(1) Ambulance transportation of human remains is only permitted if requested by the

Office of the Medical Examiner.

(2) The fee for ambulance transportation of human remains is $534 and shall be billed to

the Office of the Medical Examiner.

Subsection 7(2) amended: N.S. Reg. 181/2007

Ambulance transportation outside of Nova Scotia

8 The fee for ambulance transportation in circumstances not covered by these regulations

shall be determined by the service provider and billed to the person requesting the service.

Billing

9 All fees must be billed directly to the individual who is transported, except in the case of a

person who is under the age of 19 years and who continues to reside with a parent or

guardian, in which case the parent or guardian will be billed directly.

Single ambulance transportation for each patient care record

10 Each ambulance transportation that results in the completion of a patient care record is

deemed to be a single ambulance transportation.

Proof of residency

11 A Nova Scotia health card must be given to a service provider to prove residency.

Persons on student visas

(1) A person in Nova Scotia on a student visa is deemed to be a resident upon the 1 st day

of the 13 th month after the student arrived in Nova Scotia, as long as the student has

not been absent from Nova Scotia for more than 31 consecutive days during that

period.

(2) A person in Nova Scotia on a student visa is deemed to be a non-Canadian, until the

student becomes, or is deemed to be, a resident.

(3) A dependant of a person on a student visa is deemed to be a resident on the same

basis as the student, as set out in subsection (1).

(4) If a person in Nova Scotia on a student visa or their dependant is absent from Nova

Scotia for greater than 31 consecutive days, the student or their dependant is longer

deemed to be a resident [sic].

International students

(1) An international student, who

(

a) has a student authorization issued by the federal department of Citizenship and

Immigration Canada;

(

b) is living in Nova Scotia; and

(

c) is working as either a teaching or research assistant at any university in Nova

Scotia

and the dependants of the student are deemed to be residents on the first day of the

7 th month after the student’s arrival in Nova Scotia.

(2) The deemed residency described in subsection (1) is retroactive to the date of the

student’s arrival, if the student presents to the Executive Director of Emergency

Health Services a certificate, signed by the Dean of the university faculty at which

the student is employed, verifying the student’s employment and the period of time

for which the student is employed.

Subsection 13(2) amended: N.S. Reg. 139/2012.

(3) An international student, as described in subsection (1), is a non-Canadian until the

student becomes, or is deemed to be, a resident.

(4) A dependant of an international student, as described in subsection (1) who is living

in Nova Scotia, is deemed to be a resident once the student upon whom they are

dependant has proven the student’s entitlement to residency in accordance with

subsections (1) and (2).

Fee dispute resolution

(1) A person who disagrees with a fee charged in their bill for ambulance transportation

may appeal the bill to the service provider within 30 days after the date the service

provider mails the bill to the person.

Subsection 14(1) replaced: N.S. Reg. 139/2012.

(2) If, after appealing to the service provider, there is no resolution of the amount of fees

billed, a person may appeal, in writing, to the ambulance fee appeal committee

established by the Executive Director of Emergency Health Services.

Subsection 14(2) amended: N.S. Reg. 139/2012.

Appeal based on financial hardship

(1) A person may, on the basis of financial hardship, appeal their bill for ambulance

transportation to the service provider within 90 days after the date the service

provider mails the bill to the person.

(2) Before appealing a bill on the basis of financial hardship, a person shall submit the

bill for payment through any available assistance program or third party insurance.

(3) On receipt of an appeal under this Section, a service provider may waive or reduce

the billed fee.

(4) If, after appealing to the service provider, there is no resolution of the amount of the

billed fee, a person may appeal, in writing, to the ambulance fee appeal committee

established by the Executive Director of Emergency Health Services.

Section 15 added: N.S. Reg. 139/2012.

Schedule “A”

Approved Facilities

Facility

Location

Aberdeen Hospital

New Glasgow

All Saints Springhill Hospital

Springhill

Annapolis Community Health Centre

Annapolis Royal

Bayview Memorial Hospital

Advocate Harbour

Beacon House

Waterville

Buchanan Memorial Hospital

Neil’s Harbour

Cape Breton Regional Facility

Sydney

Cobequid Multi-Service Centre

Sackville

Colchester Regional Hospital

Truro

Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre

Amherst

Dartmouth General Hospital

Dartmouth

South Shore Regional Hospital

Digby

Eastern Memorial Hospital

Canso

Eastern Shore Memorial Hospital

Sheet Harbour

Eskasoni Community Health Centre

Eskasoni

Fishermen’s Memorial Hospital

Lunenburg

George DuMont Regional Hospital

Moncton, New Brunswick

Glace Bay Community Hospital

Glace Bay

Guysborough Memorial Hospital

Guysborough

Hants Community Hospital

Windsor

Harbour View Hospital

Sydney Mines

Inverness Consolidated Memorial Hospital

Inverness

IWK Health Centre

Halifax

Lillian Fraser Memorial Hospital

Tatamagouche

Moncton City Hospital

Moncton, New Brunswick

Musquodoboit Valley Memorial Hospital

Middle Musquodoboit

New Waterford Consolidated Hospital

New Waterford

North Cumberland Memorial Hospital

Pugwash

Northside Harbourview Hospital Corporation

North Sydney

Nova Scotia Hospital

Dartmouth

Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre

Halifax

Queen’s General Hospital

Liverpool

Roseway Hospital

Shelburne

RT McCallum Hospital (CFB Stadacona)

Halifax

Sackville Memorial Hospital

Sackville, New Brunswick

Sacred Heart Hospital

Cheticamp

St. Anne Community & Nursing Care Centre

Arichat

St. Martha’s Regional Hospital

Antigonish

St. Mary’s Memorial Hospital

Sherbrooke

Soldier’s Memorial Hospital

Middleton

South Cumberland Community Care Centre

Parrsboro

Strait Richmond Hospital

Evanston

Sutherland Harris Memorial Hospital

Pictou

Twin Oaks Memorial Hospital

Musquodoboit Harbour

Valley Regional Hospital

Kentville

Victoria County Memorial Hospital

Baddeck

Western Kings Memorial Hospital

Berwick

Yarmouth Regional Hospital

Yarmouth