DeLuca Advances Plan to Curb Unnecessary First Responder ‘Lift Assist’ Calls

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Concerned that firefighters and other first responders are too often being diverted from serious emergencies to handle non-emergency lift assists, state Rep. Anthony DeLuca,
D-Chicago Heights, has advanced legislation enabling municipalities and fire districts to charge and collect reasonable fees from assisted living facilities and nursing homes for repeated non-emergency lift assist services.

“In recent years, we’ve seen an increase in first responder calls at nursing homes and assisted living facilities for nonemergency lift assists,” DeLuca said. “Not only are these often unnecessary, they come with a real cost and impact the availability of our first responders to travel to life-threatening emergencies as expected.”

During a lift assist, first responders will help a patient physically move from one place to another, such as helping them up. However, such calls involve situations in which they are not otherwise injured or in need of emergency care.

Under DeLuca’s House Bill 2336, municipalities and fire districts would be able to fix, charge and collect reasonable fees from an assisted living facility or nursing home for every lift assist service after the sixth provided lift assist that year. Such fees may not exceed the actual personnel and equipment costs for all services rendered.

Lift assistance does not include lifting a patient or other individual in situations where they are being transported to a health care facility, such as a hospital or emergency room.

“We want to stop health care facilities from shifting health care costs onto taxpayers,” DeLuca said. “This measure incentivizes them to change their existing unsustainable practice.”

House Bill 2336 passed with bipartisan support, and is now in the Illinois Senate for consideration.

For more information, please contact RepDeLuca@SBCGlobal.net.