As part of their emergency services, many Colorado fire protection districts provide ambulance and related emergency medical services. As those fire districts look for ways to better serve their communities and keep up with the ever increasing cost of providing services, many districts offer ambulance membership programs, benefiting individuals, families and the fire districts.

Because ambulance services are reimbursable by federal health care programs, fire districts must comply with provisions of the federal Social Security Act. Enforced by the Office of Inspector General ("OIG"), the Social Security Act implicitly places limitations on fire districts with respect to how ambulance membership programs may be structured. Special Districts attorneys Dino A. Ross and Matthew A. Court discuss the relevant provisions of the Social Security Act as well as the potential legal pitfalls that fire districts should seek to avoid. Read the full article, <a href="http://berchman.net/irelandstapleton/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Ambulance-Membership-Programs.pdf" target="_blank">Ambulance Membership Programs: Ensuring Compliance with the Social Security Act.</a>