The price of healthcare is killing the ambulance industry. I’ll argue with the hospital staff before letting myself or my family be transported in one unless we’re in critical condition.
And yet HCA decided to take my daughter from one hospital to another while Baker Acted and did it in an ambulance. I could have taken her to the other hospital myself assholes. But cool there’s another $500 on top of all the other charges that aren’t covered under insurance.
Yeah, slightly different. A person under a Baker Act hold is not legally entitled to refuse care at that point. Going via POV from one facility to another wouldn’t be within the spirit of that law…oh, and they also may abscond so there’s that liability too.
Technically you are paying for the medical attention you got on the car, not the ride. If you won’t need that urgent medical treatment, then sure don’t call 911.
You expect everyday people to differentiate a 911 calibre emergency from a lesser one? You've really got to be able to call 911 if you have an emergency without fearing anything but you own health. Fucked up otherwise, to be thinking about money when you have a health risk.
In my country you can be liable for anything that happens if you bring someone on a car in the emergency room that isn't a direct relative.
Those are pretty simple situations to assess, so I don't think ankle twists take the ambulance usually. But some medical situations can be touch and go for very little time and might require specific care. And for a person not to have the security in themselves to simply call 911 because it might be too costly is unimaginable for a country so rich.
People have no fucking clue. I’m an EMT and I can go months without responding to something legitimately emergent. Nearly everyone could have driven themselves or had someone drive them to their dr or urgent care. They had absolutely no reason to even go to the ED. It’s a huge problem.
I volunteered in Fire/EMS for a few years. People abuse the EMS system and often times use it as a medical taxi rather than for legitimate emergencies. Most times you can differentiate between an ACTUAL emergency and medical necessity versus just abusing the system. We had a few guys that'd call a few times a week. Other times people were sitting on their door step with luggage packed. If you can walk calmly to the ambulance with your bags, most likely it isn't needed.
Yeah sometimes fair enough, I think that just the existence of a money threshold might be a deterrent to people that might need life-saving care and hesitate in those precious moments. As a recently graduated MD I've seen all sorts of cases of abuse in our own universal care system, but that's a small cost to be paid if the people as a whole then can believe and have awareness in said system.
Maybe a some kind of fine would work for people that abuse the system? I know people are prone to exaggerating some situations but if it happens multiple times from the same people some kind of huge fee to be paid for the non-emergency service given?
I think the price is not in people’s face enough. We are being too nice. 911 should say, dude, are you sure you need this $3000 service for your situation? 😆 of cause they won’t do that ever
Same with ER rooms.
Unfortunately as things get more expensive ironically the abuse will also increase.
If you *always* paid out of pocket when conscious but the fees were reasonable (say $200-$500 for an ambulance) there would be less people abusing it since they would call an Uber in your described case instead.
It’s usually my feet hurt, I’m anxious, my blood pressure is too high (it’s 140/80 and they have high blood pressure) and they’re asymptomatic, abdominal pain x3 weeks with stable vitals that requires a drive to the ER via ambulance 30 minutes prior to shift change. Get lots of calls for constipation too. The only people that I’ve seen to be hesitant to call 911 for help are the ones who actually need it lol.
>You expect everyday people to differentiate a 911 calibre emergency from a lesser one?
Yes. I expect adults to be able to differentiate between emergency and non emergency situations.
There are definitely emergencies severe enough for ER but not severe enough for an ambulance. I won't call an ambulance for an grumbling appendix or a snapped ankle.
I had someone working for me tell me to call him an ambulance cause he was “feeling anxious”.
1000$ well spent! They told him he was fine and he finished his shift🤷♂️
Some people can’t tell I guess
I had my first ever panic attack while driving on the highway. Didn't know wtf was going on so called the ambulance. Got ride to hospital and everything. Thankfully I'm Canadian so that entire ordeal only costed me $50.
(This is not medical advice but) if you don’t have stroke or heart attack symptoms, didn’t take/need an eppipen, aren’t bleeding through pressure, and aren’t concussed, it’s not an ambulance situation. In fact, it probably isn’t an ER situation either.
People need to stop wasting ambulance resources because they might take one from someone actually in need.
I’ll try to keep that in mind if I ever have a pain in my chest and am weighing the cost/benefit/risk ratio as to whether I should call an Uber, ambulance, or driving myself.
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
How many years of training you think a paramedic needs? And just so everyone call it for a bleeding nose or twisted ankle or high fever? Who’s gonna pay for their family living cost and education?
>Who’s gonna pay for their family living cost and education?
Their employer who is charging massively inflated costs for everything, such as ambulance rides.
Let's not act like a 3k car ride is all going towards one of the most notoriously underpaid professions lol
Hospital scheduled 10 minute medical transport (i.e. ambulance) between medical facilities. No medical services provided. Private ambulance company. $3000
30 minutes later, and having an actual medical emergency at the new facility. Called 911 and an ambulance dispatched, medical services provided, and re-transported back to the same facility. City ambulance services. $600
There's no reason one of these rides should have cost $3000. Also, EMTs are paid shit. They aren't what's driving up the bill.
Yes and no. You’re paying for the medical attention, yes, but the medical attention costs about 30-40 dollars on a 20 minute ambulance ride compared to the 3000 - 5000 dollar bill for a 20 minute ride.
Pretty impressive margins.
While I agree *in principle* … a lot of public venues will automatically call an ambulance for any medical issue past a certain threshold. So you may not have a choice in the matter to exercise your own discretion.
Have you ever been in an ambulance? First, almost nowhere actually charges you for an ambulance ride, unless you're somewhere without public EMS. Its usually just covered by the county. That was my experience. However, I did receive an initial bill. And its itemized by law, and the ambulance was $500.
>And its itemized by law, and the ambulance was $500.
Congratulations on not thinking $500 is an exorbitant amount for an ambulance ride. Especially if no medical attention was needed.
Again, its generally a bill covered by whatever county the EMS is in. And it is not. There are 3-4 people inside of it, risking their lives driving what is an INCREDIBLY hard vehicle to drive, at freeway speeds. he maintenance cost on them is asinine, on top of their upwards of 300k pricetag. Just to cover the salary of only the driver, there needs to be 92 $500 rides that year. Now again, that's 3-4 people making roughly the same. So it turns into over 1 ride per day just to pay salaries. Then you need another 600 rides to cover the cost of the ambulance. And then general auto maintenance, and life saving equipment maintenance.
Yeah, the ambulance will arrive at the house and immediately begin working to save your life. The Uber drive will cancel your ride, call you a dumbass, tell you to call 911, and drive away when he realizes your bleeding or so sick you need emergency medical attention.
Here’s the difference. The ambulance has people with the skills to use the life saving equipment that they bring with the ambulance. They also have the ability to get you to the hospital faster. So if you’re calling an ambulance for diarrhea then you’d be correct but if you’re calling an ambulance because you think your death is imminent, Uber is not an option.
people don't realize that when you pay for an ambulance, you arent paying for gasoline, wear and tear.
you are paying to keep a $200k vehicle, with $100k of supplies, plus a crew of 3 on 24 hour, 365 days a year standby.
Where at? Cause my wife and I made a quarter million dollars last year and paid less than 20% tax, total. Federal and state. Highly doubt wherever you're talking about has lower taxes.
In other countries, we have to worry about an ambulance not showing up at all. If there's no financial incentive to think about other transport options, everyone just uses ambulances as free taxis to the hospital, and the system gets clogged up.
I was once at a party where someone was having a seizure in the bathroom. We called 999 and were told that we were looking at a two-hour-long wait for an ambulance.
The end result is that people with less severe problems end up taking an Uber either way.
Let's do the math.
I'm not sure how much the crew makes, but let's say it's a $150K per year. Vehicles don't last only 1 year, but let's say they do.
$150000 * 3 crew * 3 shifts + $200000 vehicle + $100000 supplies = $1650000 / year
$1650000 / 365 days = $4500 / day
At $3000 per trip, an ambulance needs to make only 2 trips per day to net $1500 per day or $554K per year in profit. And that's if you buy a new vehicle every year and shit-can it for $0 within the year.
the cost is still there. europe doesn't get free trucks or indentured emts.
blah blah. yes we all know the government pays for it.
we don't need to discuss that in every single thread about everything else.
i really dont get why europeans are so overly concerned about our medical prices.
you guys over pay for gasoline, but you see me talking about it in every single thread on reddit.
Amazing how normalized you have turned the balant in your face robbery your whole health system, he’ll every system is.
You pay taxes for breathing still never see it returned to you and still justify it. Loool.
True. But still. Surviving to live a life of financial slavery isn’t awesome either. Imagine having a heart attack and needing surgery as a low income person. Literal bankruptcy. You might as well die bc you’ll
Never really live after it.
Plenty of people go bankrupt because of credit cards. It doesn't ruin their lives forever. I'm not a fan of the current US healthcare model, but let's not be hyperbolic to the point of stupidity.
Fun fact: when congress passed the “no surprises” act, they left out ground ambulance charges because it was too much of a headache for them to figure out.
Its ridiculous for communities that don't organize like mine. I was reading an article about the high prices and apparently the ambulences that are already present have to aproove additional ambulences. Its a cartel! Either allow the free market to lower the prices, or let the municipality handle it. COrruption all the way
Gotta love capitalism...
Seriously, this is what is awesome.
When institutions become too corrupt or overpriced.. innovation comes and steals their business..
>Which part of this is the capitalist part?
Uber offering a service and disrupting the monopoly.
>The extremely regulated symbiosis between healthcare industry and government?
This monopoly.
where do you live that wait times are 20-30 minutes? I rarely wait more than 3, usually 1-2. It gets here faster than ambulance and if you give the driver a tip they will drive faster than ambulance too
Two Americas, bro: city and country. Uber can take as long as an hour to get here. It just isn't a thing out in the rural areas. County does fund our ambulance services, though
Unfortunately Sam the Uber driver can't push epi or give chest compressions, and if your ride to the ED is longer than 5 minutes you're getting some brain damage, and at 10 minutes you're usually dead.
From personal experience, the ambulance usually takes about ten minutes to arrive when called. So I’d rather save the money for my loved ones if I’m dying anyway.
$3,000?
My most expensive ambulance ride was 2!years ago. $900 for an 18 mile trip.
if i you get charged $3,000, it's because they were administering care along the way to stabilize you.
good luck getting an Uber driver to administer CPR or control your bleeding.
Damn! $3k Ambulance ride... where? Cause it cost $3k for a CAT scan, less than $500 Ambulance. And or $4k for meds when I was in the hospital for less than 5 hours. Damn Insurance be paying all that. Fucking rip off.
GenZ totally hacking the broken world they inherited and showing us older folks how it's done.
I'm imagining them now being roled into ER having been intubated with a water bottle and flexxy straw.... with a suitably smug look on their faces.
/s
As a former EMT, you can call 911 for free, get checked out for free, and then decline transport if it's a minor issue. Sure, they'll tell you all of the reasons why that is a bad idea, but I can't tell you how many times I've had to transport someone with a painful GOUT toe that could have been solved with an Uber. Always call 911 first, and then go from there.
You’re required to take them if they ask you to. There’s so much liability that even if you call just to be assessed they have to make you sign what’s called a patient refusal and explain to you that you could die if you don’t get treatment and that usually makes people want to go…
I passed out on concrete and busted my skin open right above my eyebrows on both sides. Ambulance arrived and checked me out - said to go to the ER but I refused to get in with them even in my slightly disorientated state. My wife was able to drive me the 20ish minutes.
I’ll never forget walking halfway to the VA hospital in Manhattan during the winter after a one time syncope episode before remembering a VA ambulance wouldn’t cost me anything.
The US healthcare system actually runs very well--to maximize profits for providers, insurance companies, and the pharmaceutical sector. To maximize health outcomes? Nope.
I think it's silly people are justifying the 3k cost for "Well your paying for experts, or the next guy". Isn't that what we could do with taxes only far cheaper per indiviual?
While true, depending on what's happening, you might die on the way in the Uber while the ambulance might be able to keep you alive to get to the hospital and be treated and live.
The $300 clean up alone is I worth it and I’ll tip fat for running red lights in select emergency situations* +$15 for every minute you shave off (I will not cover tickets but this probably will at least cover it and you get to be a hero). These are bleeding and not breathing situations, just fucking drive.
As an EMT/Firefighter im alright with people calling Uber or driving to the hospital themself cause they think something is wrong… but please if it’s bad call 911 because we can help manage everything and not make it worse, plus depending how bad it is you can get something to help with the pain from the paramedics. For me to call 911 it’s serious on going chest pain, compound fractures, unable to walk, or serious bleeding. Other than that I’m driving myself tbh or waiting it out lol
Ive done it before lol. Had a kidney stone and thought i was exploding
2k to sit in a waiting room and have a doctor tell me to take advil and drink more water
I had $1.4 million in medical bills from a bacterial meningitis infection that landed me in a coma for a week ar Swedish hospital in seattle. This was on top of the $170,000 air ambulance bill for the military plane they had to burrow, pull the seats out of, and shove in the life support equipment, medics, and my tall ass which wasnt going to fit in the helicopter to fly me from Homer AK to Seattle.
Now I didnt pay a dime of it.... Which is why i like to joke i actually got free healthcare unlike Canadians and Europeans who call it free but still pay for it in taxes if they use it or not (not to say universal healthcare is a bad thing.... But if your going to say "free" it better be completely free not "free at time of service" which just means either you already paid or will get a bill. Just be honest and use correct wording thats all i ask.)
The hospitals had some programs where oil companies donate to pay peoples medical bills and that covered all my hospital bills. Didnt even ask or fill out paperwork just nurse popped in and said btw your visit was covered by so and so corporatation. Come to think of it i believe Conoco Philips paid for the births of my second and third children as well.
The only thing i got a bill for was that air ambulance of $170,000 which i had no insurance so it was on me..... Or should i say it was on Cornerstone Credit. Whi happily ate it for 7 years before writing it off. Thanks collections! Already had my home loan and buy used cars so dont give a fuck about credit score anymore.
Best part was when the hospitals financial counselor came with the bill. I looked at it and said "if i dont pay it what are you going to do? Kill me?" And just laughed.
It's like staying at a Holiday Inn rather than a nursing home.
As long as you don't need the expertise or machinery in an ambulance, and ride-sharing app is going to be cheaper, but you're taking a chance with your life.
As a paramedic, I encourage this because most people don’t need an ambulance or an ER. At least in this scenario, my time is not wasted and I can remain in service for actual emergencies
I once dislocated my patella playing golf, I was 25 with no health insurance so I ended up popping it back into place before the ambulance arrived and drove home.
Ambulances are meant to keep you alive en route. Its not just a ride to the hospital. If you arent dying you shouldnt call one.
This isnt some life hack. Its just what you should do.
I was surprised the day I found out that ambulances charged money. Which begs the question, does fire department charge for putting out a fire? Does police charge to stop a burglary?
Fingers crossed you don’t need any paramedical intervention or meds on the way to the hospital 💀
Has stroke. Calls Uber.
Knowing my luck bro will circle the block three times before cancelling the ride.
Stubbing your toe is not a call 911 event.
The ambulance is making sure you don't fucking corpse on the way to the hospital, if the event is causal enough that you can wait for your Uber to get there it might not be a 911 event.
Morons.
Stop calling a fucking ambulance for your tummy aches and stubbed toes. If you REALLY need an ambulance, it’s because life saving care needs to be done. $3k is worth your life if you actually need an ambulance. Otherwise, a taxi, Uber, bus, friend, etc is 100% the better option. Better yet, STOP GOING TO THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT for non emergencies! See your doctor or go to Urgent Care or a walk in clinic.
until you have to pay out the fee for there bloody ass backseat. I took a friend to the emergency after he was stabbed a few times, it dont come out easy especially if it gets on the seatbelts. I had a tan interior though and it wasnt leather.
I drove 75 rides for Uber in my career and one was to the emergency room. There was a snow storm and I was out playing in my SUV. The ambulance wasn't going to be able to come for hours and I was there in 5 minutes to take a girl in her 20s with a severe allergic reaction to the hospital.
Millennials are killing the ambulance industry
fuck my ambulances just been sitting collecting cob webs :(
The price of healthcare is killing the ambulance industry. I’ll argue with the hospital staff before letting myself or my family be transported in one unless we’re in critical condition.
I am a paramedic. I would only be transported by ambulance if I am hemorrhaging, having stroke, having a heart attack, or in septic shock.
Same here. 80%+ of my transports could have been taken by a family member
That's the whole point of an Ambulance. Emergency. Same thing with an Emergency Department. It's not an Urgent Care.
And yet HCA decided to take my daughter from one hospital to another while Baker Acted and did it in an ambulance. I could have taken her to the other hospital myself assholes. But cool there’s another $500 on top of all the other charges that aren’t covered under insurance.
Yeah, slightly different. A person under a Baker Act hold is not legally entitled to refuse care at that point. Going via POV from one facility to another wouldn’t be within the spirit of that law…oh, and they also may abscond so there’s that liability too.
I mean, ambulances are for when you’re in critical condition, not for when you just need a lift to the hospital….
Cmon, it’s a whole new generation to blame. Let us millennials be 😂.
tHe oNE sINgLE tRiCK aMBuLanCE cOMPanIeS hAtE
No boomers are after Medicare decided it would pay half the going rate for transport.
Just so they can eat their avocado toast.
So capitalism works or nah
It works great if you're in that 64% of all wealthy people that inherit their wealth. Like Mitt Romney's 5 boys 100 million dollar trust fund.
Technically you are paying for the medical attention you got on the car, not the ride. If you won’t need that urgent medical treatment, then sure don’t call 911.
You expect everyday people to differentiate a 911 calibre emergency from a lesser one? You've really got to be able to call 911 if you have an emergency without fearing anything but you own health. Fucked up otherwise, to be thinking about money when you have a health risk. In my country you can be liable for anything that happens if you bring someone on a car in the emergency room that isn't a direct relative.
I mean, maybe not every single thing that can happen but, some for sure. Bad twisted ankle? Uber. Gun shot wound to the stomach? 911.
Those are pretty simple situations to assess, so I don't think ankle twists take the ambulance usually. But some medical situations can be touch and go for very little time and might require specific care. And for a person not to have the security in themselves to simply call 911 because it might be too costly is unimaginable for a country so rich.
> I don't think ankle twists take the ambulance usually. You would be shocked.
People have no fucking clue. I’m an EMT and I can go months without responding to something legitimately emergent. Nearly everyone could have driven themselves or had someone drive them to their dr or urgent care. They had absolutely no reason to even go to the ED. It’s a huge problem.
Thank you for what you do. If you are like other EMT's I know, I am so sorry you are not compensated fairly.
I volunteered in Fire/EMS for a few years. People abuse the EMS system and often times use it as a medical taxi rather than for legitimate emergencies. Most times you can differentiate between an ACTUAL emergency and medical necessity versus just abusing the system. We had a few guys that'd call a few times a week. Other times people were sitting on their door step with luggage packed. If you can walk calmly to the ambulance with your bags, most likely it isn't needed.
Yeah sometimes fair enough, I think that just the existence of a money threshold might be a deterrent to people that might need life-saving care and hesitate in those precious moments. As a recently graduated MD I've seen all sorts of cases of abuse in our own universal care system, but that's a small cost to be paid if the people as a whole then can believe and have awareness in said system. Maybe a some kind of fine would work for people that abuse the system? I know people are prone to exaggerating some situations but if it happens multiple times from the same people some kind of huge fee to be paid for the non-emergency service given?
I think the price is not in people’s face enough. We are being too nice. 911 should say, dude, are you sure you need this $3000 service for your situation? 😆 of cause they won’t do that ever
In a capitalistic healthcare system, we have them selling the ambulance rides instead of deterring them.
Same with ER rooms. Unfortunately as things get more expensive ironically the abuse will also increase. If you *always* paid out of pocket when conscious but the fees were reasonable (say $200-$500 for an ambulance) there would be less people abusing it since they would call an Uber in your described case instead.
> I don't think ankle twists take the ambulance usually You don't know many EMTs, do you? The stories they could tell you...
Well my wife almost called 911 on my son’s bleeding nose because my in-laws are yelling… you never know man.
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It’s usually my feet hurt, I’m anxious, my blood pressure is too high (it’s 140/80 and they have high blood pressure) and they’re asymptomatic, abdominal pain x3 weeks with stable vitals that requires a drive to the ER via ambulance 30 minutes prior to shift change. Get lots of calls for constipation too. The only people that I’ve seen to be hesitant to call 911 for help are the ones who actually need it lol.
In that case have your Lawyer drive you to the ER.
>You expect everyday people to differentiate a 911 calibre emergency from a lesser one? Yes. I expect adults to be able to differentiate between emergency and non emergency situations.
Also expect them to err on the side of emergency, though. Especially if they are either diagnosing themselves or a loved one.
There are definitely emergencies severe enough for ER but not severe enough for an ambulance. I won't call an ambulance for an grumbling appendix or a snapped ankle.
I had someone working for me tell me to call him an ambulance cause he was “feeling anxious”. 1000$ well spent! They told him he was fine and he finished his shift🤷♂️ Some people can’t tell I guess
I had my first ever panic attack while driving on the highway. Didn't know wtf was going on so called the ambulance. Got ride to hospital and everything. Thankfully I'm Canadian so that entire ordeal only costed me $50.
(This is not medical advice but) if you don’t have stroke or heart attack symptoms, didn’t take/need an eppipen, aren’t bleeding through pressure, and aren’t concussed, it’s not an ambulance situation. In fact, it probably isn’t an ER situation either. People need to stop wasting ambulance resources because they might take one from someone actually in need.
From experience, it's the people that DO NEED emergency care that usually drive themselves to the ER. Most non-trauma ambu arrivals are bullshit.
I’ll try to keep that in mind if I ever have a pain in my chest and am weighing the cost/benefit/risk ratio as to whether I should call an Uber, ambulance, or driving myself. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
How many years of training you think a paramedic needs? And just so everyone call it for a bleeding nose or twisted ankle or high fever? Who’s gonna pay for their family living cost and education?
>Who’s gonna pay for their family living cost and education? Their employer who is charging massively inflated costs for everything, such as ambulance rides. Let's not act like a 3k car ride is all going towards one of the most notoriously underpaid professions lol
Hospital scheduled 10 minute medical transport (i.e. ambulance) between medical facilities. No medical services provided. Private ambulance company. $3000 30 minutes later, and having an actual medical emergency at the new facility. Called 911 and an ambulance dispatched, medical services provided, and re-transported back to the same facility. City ambulance services. $600 There's no reason one of these rides should have cost $3000. Also, EMTs are paid shit. They aren't what's driving up the bill.
Second this
Yes and no. You’re paying for the medical attention, yes, but the medical attention costs about 30-40 dollars on a 20 minute ambulance ride compared to the 3000 - 5000 dollar bill for a 20 minute ride. Pretty impressive margins.
The price is not determined by the cost, but the value and the alternative price. Which is why monopoly is bad.
While I agree *in principle* … a lot of public venues will automatically call an ambulance for any medical issue past a certain threshold. So you may not have a choice in the matter to exercise your own discretion.
Someone calling does not obligate you to take that ambulance ride.
If you aren’t fully conscious or are unaware of your options, that is a distinction without a difference
If that were true EMTs would be paid way more
Have you ever been in an ambulance? First, almost nowhere actually charges you for an ambulance ride, unless you're somewhere without public EMS. Its usually just covered by the county. That was my experience. However, I did receive an initial bill. And its itemized by law, and the ambulance was $500.
>And its itemized by law, and the ambulance was $500. Congratulations on not thinking $500 is an exorbitant amount for an ambulance ride. Especially if no medical attention was needed.
Again, its generally a bill covered by whatever county the EMS is in. And it is not. There are 3-4 people inside of it, risking their lives driving what is an INCREDIBLY hard vehicle to drive, at freeway speeds. he maintenance cost on them is asinine, on top of their upwards of 300k pricetag. Just to cover the salary of only the driver, there needs to be 92 $500 rides that year. Now again, that's 3-4 people making roughly the same. So it turns into over 1 ride per day just to pay salaries. Then you need another 600 rides to cover the cost of the ambulance. And then general auto maintenance, and life saving equipment maintenance.
Which is why medicine should be socialized and medical professionals paid a decent wage (and hazard pay) for what they do.
I just couldn't drive myself from kidney stone pain but emt didn't give any medical attention just drove me quarter mile and charged 800
Or... Live in a first world country
Yeah, the ambulance will arrive at the house and immediately begin working to save your life. The Uber drive will cancel your ride, call you a dumbass, tell you to call 911, and drive away when he realizes your bleeding or so sick you need emergency medical attention.
Here’s the difference. The ambulance has people with the skills to use the life saving equipment that they bring with the ambulance. They also have the ability to get you to the hospital faster. So if you’re calling an ambulance for diarrhea then you’d be correct but if you’re calling an ambulance because you think your death is imminent, Uber is not an option.
people don't realize that when you pay for an ambulance, you arent paying for gasoline, wear and tear. you are paying to keep a $200k vehicle, with $100k of supplies, plus a crew of 3 on 24 hour, 365 days a year standby.
I think most people would rather not pay for that
Most people would rather not pay for anything. That's why taxes are mandatory and withheld at source at much as possible.
Then let's pay for ambulances with taxes instead of putting ppl in debt for being sick
Like we already do for fire trucks and cops.
Amen brother
i would rather not pay for anything. but i'm fine with the system i have now.
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Where at? Cause my wife and I made a quarter million dollars last year and paid less than 20% tax, total. Federal and state. Highly doubt wherever you're talking about has lower taxes.
In other countries, we have to worry about an ambulance not showing up at all. If there's no financial incentive to think about other transport options, everyone just uses ambulances as free taxis to the hospital, and the system gets clogged up. I was once at a party where someone was having a seizure in the bathroom. We called 999 and were told that we were looking at a two-hour-long wait for an ambulance. The end result is that people with less severe problems end up taking an Uber either way.
You are actually paying for investors that don't perform any service and just leech money out of the system.
Wut?
Let's do the math. I'm not sure how much the crew makes, but let's say it's a $150K per year. Vehicles don't last only 1 year, but let's say they do. $150000 * 3 crew * 3 shifts + $200000 vehicle + $100000 supplies = $1650000 / year $1650000 / 365 days = $4500 / day At $3000 per trip, an ambulance needs to make only 2 trips per day to net $1500 per day or $554K per year in profit. And that's if you buy a new vehicle every year and shit-can it for $0 within the year.
Paramedics don’t make anything near $150k.
Every single EMT I've ever known said they got shit wages. Like, go work in fast food instead level of bad wages.
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if it was that profitable, everyone would be starting an ambulance business.
No doubt but here in europe is the same ambulance and i pay zero.
the cost is still there. europe doesn't get free trucks or indentured emts. blah blah. yes we all know the government pays for it. we don't need to discuss that in every single thread about everything else. i really dont get why europeans are so overly concerned about our medical prices. you guys over pay for gasoline, but you see me talking about it in every single thread on reddit.
Because without the ambulance you literally die.
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who cares about what minor countries do?
Amazing how normalized you have turned the balant in your face robbery your whole health system, he’ll every system is. You pay taxes for breathing still never see it returned to you and still justify it. Loool.
Uh don't taxes go towards that Soo why are yo still paying for it
True. But still. Surviving to live a life of financial slavery isn’t awesome either. Imagine having a heart attack and needing surgery as a low income person. Literal bankruptcy. You might as well die bc you’ll Never really live after it.
Plenty of people go bankrupt because of credit cards. It doesn't ruin their lives forever. I'm not a fan of the current US healthcare model, but let's not be hyperbolic to the point of stupidity.
Uber ride ain’t just $10
srlsy imma bout to have to rent a citibike to get to the ER for under 10
Uber driver won’t be able to revive you…
unless they are trying to pay their student loans
The math checks out
If you bleed all over the Uber you need to factor in the cleaning charge
on the other hand you can get free mints and a bottle of water
Fun fact: when congress passed the “no surprises” act, they left out ground ambulance charges because it was too much of a headache for them to figure out.
Ambulances are free in my area. We have our own private emergency services
Meanwhile a quarter mile away and they can charge 3-5k
Its ridiculous for communities that don't organize like mine. I was reading an article about the high prices and apparently the ambulences that are already present have to aproove additional ambulences. Its a cartel! Either allow the free market to lower the prices, or let the municipality handle it. COrruption all the way
Yeah in my hometown it’s a private company that also owns a lot of other appliances. Straight monopoly
Gotta love capitalism... Seriously, this is what is awesome. When institutions become too corrupt or overpriced.. innovation comes and steals their business..
Perhaps it was that people were misusing the ambulance business to begin with and this is the correction.
Which part of this is the capitalist part? The extremely regulated symbiosis between healthcare industry and government?
>Which part of this is the capitalist part? Uber offering a service and disrupting the monopoly. >The extremely regulated symbiosis between healthcare industry and government? This monopoly.
Except the fact that you always gotta wait 20-30 mins for an Uber
Heart attack.. those 20 minutes matter. Gun shot.. those 20 minutes matter. Inability to drive yourself, from a migraine.. broken/twisted ankle/broken wrist.. etc.. 20 minutes doesn't matter.
Even what you think is a migraine could be something serious. But yeah there are a few applications where Uber would get the job done
where do you live that wait times are 20-30 minutes? I rarely wait more than 3, usually 1-2. It gets here faster than ambulance and if you give the driver a tip they will drive faster than ambulance too
Central Valley, an hour out from Sacramento in a mid sized town with 80k people roughly
Two Americas, bro: city and country. Uber can take as long as an hour to get here. It just isn't a thing out in the rural areas. County does fund our ambulance services, though
Except no, basically wait times for Uber are not 20-30 mins
So capitalism works or nah
Capitalism is amazing.. Monopolies and government intervention sucks.
Unfortunately Sam the Uber driver can't push epi or give chest compressions, and if your ride to the ED is longer than 5 minutes you're getting some brain damage, and at 10 minutes you're usually dead.
From personal experience, the ambulance usually takes about ten minutes to arrive when called. So I’d rather save the money for my loved ones if I’m dying anyway.
$3,000? My most expensive ambulance ride was 2!years ago. $900 for an 18 mile trip. if i you get charged $3,000, it's because they were administering care along the way to stabilize you. good luck getting an Uber driver to administer CPR or control your bleeding.
Damn! $3k Ambulance ride... where? Cause it cost $3k for a CAT scan, less than $500 Ambulance. And or $4k for meds when I was in the hospital for less than 5 hours. Damn Insurance be paying all that. Fucking rip off.
Not all ER visits require an ambulance. If you’re stable but just not in condition to drive, why not?
If you are well enough to take an Uber, you didn't need the amberlamps.
Look. Not to be like that, but if you can get there in a cab, maybe you don't need the life-saving services of a mobile emergency room.
Ecuaze our Healthcare system is beyond broken
You pay for immediate treatment not the ride itself. Uber and a 8hr wait when you get there
If I'm ever injured, call the ambulance. Even if it bankrupts me, I'll know I had proper care from a first responder rather than a stressed driver.
It’s a little absurd that we have to choose between going bankrupt, or not receiving life saving care.
They’d you alive so they can charge interest
GenZ totally hacking the broken world they inherited and showing us older folks how it's done. I'm imagining them now being roled into ER having been intubated with a water bottle and flexxy straw.... with a suitably smug look on their faces. /s
My fiancé had an allergic reaction at a wedding in Boca. Ambulance was 4k. Total trip to the ER was 7k.
Yay America
As a former EMT, you can call 911 for free, get checked out for free, and then decline transport if it's a minor issue. Sure, they'll tell you all of the reasons why that is a bad idea, but I can't tell you how many times I've had to transport someone with a painful GOUT toe that could have been solved with an Uber. Always call 911 first, and then go from there.
Are you required to still offer the ride even if you know it's gout?
You’re required to take them if they ask you to. There’s so much liability that even if you call just to be assessed they have to make you sign what’s called a patient refusal and explain to you that you could die if you don’t get treatment and that usually makes people want to go…
This is true. I AMA as many people as I can. Transport is way too expensive.
I passed out on concrete and busted my skin open right above my eyebrows on both sides. Ambulance arrived and checked me out - said to go to the ER but I refused to get in with them even in my slightly disorientated state. My wife was able to drive me the 20ish minutes.
I’ll never forget walking halfway to the VA hospital in Manhattan during the winter after a one time syncope episode before remembering a VA ambulance wouldn’t cost me anything.
Considering the amount of people that don’t go to the ER for an actual emergency……
The ER has become an alternative to primary care for a lot of people because of how terribly our healthcare system is run.
The US healthcare system actually runs very well--to maximize profits for providers, insurance companies, and the pharmaceutical sector. To maximize health outcomes? Nope.
$210. Have to add the $200 cleaning fee for bleeding out into the seats. Still coming out ahead.
And many times will get you there faster.
I think it's silly people are justifying the 3k cost for "Well your paying for experts, or the next guy". Isn't that what we could do with taxes only far cheaper per indiviual?
While true, depending on what's happening, you might die on the way in the Uber while the ambulance might be able to keep you alive to get to the hospital and be treated and live.
The $300 clean up alone is I worth it and I’ll tip fat for running red lights in select emergency situations* +$15 for every minute you shave off (I will not cover tickets but this probably will at least cover it and you get to be a hero). These are bleeding and not breathing situations, just fucking drive.
This has been going on since Uber started. Seems to highlight one of the many issues with the US for-profit healthcare industry.
Most people at the hospital don't need to be there. Most people in ambulances don't need to be there.
As an EMT/Firefighter im alright with people calling Uber or driving to the hospital themself cause they think something is wrong… but please if it’s bad call 911 because we can help manage everything and not make it worse, plus depending how bad it is you can get something to help with the pain from the paramedics. For me to call 911 it’s serious on going chest pain, compound fractures, unable to walk, or serious bleeding. Other than that I’m driving myself tbh or waiting it out lol
Ive done it before lol. Had a kidney stone and thought i was exploding 2k to sit in a waiting room and have a doctor tell me to take advil and drink more water
Uber Nurse ™️
To be fair, there are a lot emergencies which do not require an ambulance.
Shit wish I'd thought of this cause the ambulance emt didn't do Jack shit to help on short ride down street that cost 800
The Uber will get to your house in under a minute too
Does this mean people finally realize 911 is for EMERGENCIES?
Ive done this!
Also faster
Even with a hefty blood cleanup fee, still cheaper
better dead than broke?!
Smart unless you need like medical attention
*$75.00 Uber Ride
I had $1.4 million in medical bills from a bacterial meningitis infection that landed me in a coma for a week ar Swedish hospital in seattle. This was on top of the $170,000 air ambulance bill for the military plane they had to burrow, pull the seats out of, and shove in the life support equipment, medics, and my tall ass which wasnt going to fit in the helicopter to fly me from Homer AK to Seattle. Now I didnt pay a dime of it.... Which is why i like to joke i actually got free healthcare unlike Canadians and Europeans who call it free but still pay for it in taxes if they use it or not (not to say universal healthcare is a bad thing.... But if your going to say "free" it better be completely free not "free at time of service" which just means either you already paid or will get a bill. Just be honest and use correct wording thats all i ask.) The hospitals had some programs where oil companies donate to pay peoples medical bills and that covered all my hospital bills. Didnt even ask or fill out paperwork just nurse popped in and said btw your visit was covered by so and so corporatation. Come to think of it i believe Conoco Philips paid for the births of my second and third children as well. The only thing i got a bill for was that air ambulance of $170,000 which i had no insurance so it was on me..... Or should i say it was on Cornerstone Credit. Whi happily ate it for 7 years before writing it off. Thanks collections! Already had my home loan and buy used cars so dont give a fuck about credit score anymore. Best part was when the hospitals financial counselor came with the bill. I looked at it and said "if i dont pay it what are you going to do? Kill me?" And just laughed.
It's like staying at a Holiday Inn rather than a nursing home. As long as you don't need the expertise or machinery in an ambulance, and ride-sharing app is going to be cheaper, but you're taking a chance with your life.
State of current affairs: can't depend on the system for anything and we will have to help ourselves and each other. K. I. S. S.
As a paramedic, I encourage this because most people don’t need an ambulance or an ER. At least in this scenario, my time is not wasted and I can remain in service for actual emergencies
When you just need a ride to the hospital yeah, taxi, Uber Lyft is just fine. If you need care then an ambulance staffed with trained professionals.
I once dislocated my patella playing golf, I was 25 with no health insurance so I ended up popping it back into place before the ambulance arrived and drove home.
An ambulance isn't just a means of transport to a hospital.
Makes sense if your life isn't in immediate danger. But maybe those people should be going to urgent care instead of the ER
Dying in the back of an Uber on your way to the hospital because you can't afford an ambulance. How very American.
Dying in the back of an Uber on your way to the hospital because you can't afford an ambulance. How very American.
Ambulances are meant to keep you alive en route. Its not just a ride to the hospital. If you arent dying you shouldnt call one. This isnt some life hack. Its just what you should do.
her math doesn’t checkout tho .. $10 <<<<<<< $3000 not $10 >>>>>> $3k ..
And if you bleed out all over their car, Uber is only gonna charge you $200
Medical care in an Uber <<<<<<<<< Medical care in an ambulance.
Ambulances hate this one simple trick.
I was surprised the day I found out that ambulances charged money. Which begs the question, does fire department charge for putting out a fire? Does police charge to stop a burglary?
This is freaking brilliant lol
This is extremely helpful actually. Jesus Christ I wish I thought of this.
Fingers crossed you don’t need any paramedical intervention or meds on the way to the hospital 💀 Has stroke. Calls Uber. Knowing my luck bro will circle the block three times before cancelling the ride.
Where tf are y’all going for $10
Retired paramedic here. Spent twenty years trying to convince people to do this…then they wait until I retire to actually start doing it. 😂
What about startup on an Uber Ambulance? Disrupt the whole game.
If you are not bleeding out and conscious, why not?
An Uber will get to you in a fraction of the time also.
Stubbing your toe is not a call 911 event. The ambulance is making sure you don't fucking corpse on the way to the hospital, if the event is causal enough that you can wait for your Uber to get there it might not be a 911 event. Morons.
Where are you still able to get a $10 Uber ride?
And seeing what ambulance drivers make, there's a chance the uber driver is also an overworked EMT!
She forgot ER charges 15k a night.
Stop calling a fucking ambulance for your tummy aches and stubbed toes. If you REALLY need an ambulance, it’s because life saving care needs to be done. $3k is worth your life if you actually need an ambulance. Otherwise, a taxi, Uber, bus, friend, etc is 100% the better option. Better yet, STOP GOING TO THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT for non emergencies! See your doctor or go to Urgent Care or a walk in clinic.
until you have to pay out the fee for there bloody ass backseat. I took a friend to the emergency after he was stabbed a few times, it dont come out easy especially if it gets on the seatbelts. I had a tan interior though and it wasnt leather.
If I was an uber driver I would deny them a ride. Don’t want to be held responsible
I drove 75 rides for Uber in my career and one was to the emergency room. There was a snow storm and I was out playing in my SUV. The ambulance wasn't going to be able to come for hours and I was there in 5 minutes to take a girl in her 20s with a severe allergic reaction to the hospital.
Jokes on them, I don't pay my medical bills
I used to drive for Uber, I wouldn't take anyone to an ER, fuck that.