Chapter 111C: Section 3. Licensing of ambulance services.
Section 3. Any person who proposes to establish or maintain an ambulance service shall file an application with the department, containing such information as the department may require, including but not limited to the identity of the applicant, and any parent or associated company, and the number of ambulances for which application is made.
Upon receipt and review of an application for a license, the department shall issue a license if it finds that the applicant is responsible and suitable to establish or maintain the proposed service and meets such requirements as the department may establish by regulation for an ambulance service license. On or after July first, nineteen hundred and seventy-seven no original or renewal license shall be issued hereunder except in the case of ambulance services owned or operated by an agency or political subdivision of the commonwealth unless the applicant has received and there is in effect a contract of insurance conforming to the rules and regulations established by the department, subject to the provisions of chapter one hundred and seventy-five.
In the case of a renewal application, the department may, subject to such regulations as it may make, issue a provisional license to an applicant who does not meet the requirements under this section, provided that the applicant has demonstrated to the department's satisfaction a good faith intention to meet such requirements, and, provided further, that the department finds that the licensee provides adequate emergency medical care and evidences a potential for full licensure within a reasonable period, not to exceed six months. The department, however, shall in no case issue a person more than two consecutive provisional licenses for the same ambulance service.
The department shall set forth in every license which it issues under this section the name and address of the person to whom such license is issued, the period for which such license is issued, the classification, if any, for which such license is issued, the number and classification of ambulances to be operated under the license, the conditions as to transfer and assignment prescribed by law, and such other terms of issuance as the department may, in the public interest, prescribe as necessary or appropriate. The department shall fix the period of a provisional license for no more than six months, and it shall fix the period of a full license for not less than twelve months nor more than twenty-four months.
The department shall require as a condition of granting or renewing every license issued under this section that an ambulance service which provides service to a beneficiary of health insurance under Title XVIII of the Social Security Act shall not charge to or collect from such beneficiary any amount in excess of the amount approved for that medically necessary service as determined by the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services.