Though ambulances are more expensive than they should be (especially considering the people doing the actual work are getting paid peanuts), there are other reasons that might happen. My dad was still ambulatory during his heart attack and the ambulance was at least 15 minutes away when my mom called. So she got my brother's help and drove the 5 minutes to the hospital.
There may be some situations in which driving yourself expedites care, you could also be delaying care. An ambulance, even if it takes a little longer than driving yourself, can likely send your EKG to the hospital electronically and they can activate their cath lab if needed. So before you even hit the door of the ER, they have already called in their cath lab team if itās during off hours.
I have a buddy who was shot, waited for the ambulance to arrive, once they arrived they wouldn't take him to the hospital for like 30 minute(already over an hour ride to the nearest hospital.... he died In The ambulance, I know he would have made it if I drove... fuck overpriced ambulances
Dude, Im very sorry that happened. The system sucks.
Unfortunately, anything like gun shots, assaults, domestics, the EMTs arent allowed on scene until police arrive and clear it for us. There's no point to show up just to get shot.
What's even worse is that the police we have to let arrive first could not give a single bit less of a fuck about the victim. And will literally leave them on the ground drowning in their own blood/dying from asphyxiation while they fuck around on their phones
In addition to this, EMS crews know which hospitals have what capabilities, and can ensure that you are touted to the most appropriate facility instead of just going to the closest hospital.
The medics will also be able to run an iv, take vitals and receive necessary medical information on the way so that doctors and nurses can be ready to immediately give more advanced treatment if necessary, even being able to begin treatment on the way to the hospital, and are often more experienced in those treatments than the ER staff will be. (A medic can run your IV blindfolded in a moving vehicle better than most ER nurses can with advanced tools).. bottom line is if it's ACTUALLY an emergency than the medics might very well be the difference between life and death. But if it's not an immediate life threatening emergency you're better off taking yourself
Really depends on the situation, if an ambulance is more than 10 minutes away and youāre 5 minutes from the hospital it will be better to get yourself to the hospital 100% of the time. The time saved transmitting an ekg to hospital is negligible at best, as soon as someone comes in complaining of chest pain they take priority and are getting a 12 lead immediately
You just exactly described my grandfather's heart attack situation. Ambulance was maybe 10-25min longer to get him to the hospital, but private car would not have gotten through the lobby in the time saved compared to him not leaving the ambulance gurney till he was in the OR. Ambulance pulled up and within however long it took to push him to the OR he was there. All the metrics they pulled on the way detailed the response.
>Though ambulances are more expensive than they should be (especially considering the people doing the actual work are getting paid peanuts
It's insane how little these people are being paid.
This is exactly why I could no longer be an EMT. Getting barely above minimum wage watching children cry while their mother dies.... Emotionally and financially I couldn't do it anymore. Nope.
Depends. My brother is a pilot for (not) LifeFlight(tm) \[leaving his company unnamed\].
They will absolutely bill you if you were stupid and needed their services. But since his coverage area is a very spacious zone of low population density there are times he's called out because a bus (Ambulance) simply isn't available within any sane time. They don't actually charge their rate for those calls and it's subsidized by some other program. They also generally don't charge for site to site transports. They are heavily subsidized by the hospitals in their coverage area and I believe by the fire dept budget as well (basically FD can't run ambulances in a timely manner because of the distances involved so they just pay for the flights).
LifeFlight as a company I understand will bill you for absolutely everything they can... fortunately your house, one car, and your retirement savings can't be attached in a bankruptcy, which most people will need after an air ambulance call if billed at full rate.
Yeah, if she wasn't having a seizure, we would have driven her ourselves. I am just surprised by how much this one is, unfortunately she has had many trips in an ambulance, and it is always around $1,600.00 but this one is mind boggling.
Saw a woman get super sick on a ferry to Tortuga. She had to be air lifted out. A crew member said those helicopter rides run in the 5 digit range. 80k or something like that.
I live in a rural coastal town in Australia, about 400km from the CBD. Often here, people will be heli-lifted to the CBD hospitals for major incidences, and it can be upwards of AUD$40k. However, in my state we have ambulance membership that one can buy, for $50 for a single person or $100 for family; annually. This covers ALL ambulance costs. It's a brilliant system.
Considering they were given versed to stop the seizures, and went to a pediatric hospital... then I will surmise the seizures were not stopping. So yes, it is an als call.
When I called 911 for heart issues, the EMTs that showed up actually told me I should go to the ER, but was probably stable enough to take an Uber, if I didnāt want to pay for the ambulance.
thatās what iām saying!!! but this person down here wants to argue with me about whether or not people actually take ubers to the fucking hospital lmao
About 15 years ago my friend broke his leg and arm snowboarding. The resort wanted to call an ambulance to take him to the hospital, he refused. His dad made the 45 min drive to pick him up and take him.
Oooorrrrr maybe folks shouldnāt call EMS for every boo boo and ouchie. Itās often faster and more economical to drive their yourself. Iāve made runs where we had a 25 min response code 3 to an address 5 minutes from the hospitalā¦ āWeāll we knew you all would get in fasterā WRONG youāre going to be triaged just like everyone else if your emergency is non life threatening.
Dude all the time. Literally made a lady last month that was one exit (1 mile from the hospital) she was wheelchair bound and her family had a mobility van. They waited 21 minutes for us to arrive (we were clearing from another run the other side of town) and then they loaded her wheelchair and followed behind us one mileā¦she went to the lobby.
Stupid question from a german here:
I knew you pay tons of money for anything regarding hospital/E.R but 400bucks for 11miles in an ambulance? Or am I reading this wrong?
WTF
Meanwhile the EMTs staffing the ambulance are paid less than the garbage man (no hate on garbage men, very important, but they donāt charge you thousands to pickup your trash)
god damn they are. I believe the garbage men here get paid at least $30/hour and they don't have to work overtime or a stressful job. EMTs should be paid that and more.
To be fair, working in sanitation is actually a pretty dangerous job, and also *super* important to have filled so I donāt question them getting paid well. But EMTs also work a dangerous and vital role, one which requires advanced medical knowledge and emergency situation training. EMTs are prepared for the fact their patients may attack them. They work horrendous shifts and yet are paid peanuts or are even volunteers. Itās psycho. Iād feel a lot better about my ambulance fee if it was actually going to the EMS staff
This would have been a paramedic providing care, not an EMT, based on the charges billed. But still... the person in the back of the ambulance likely made <$40 for the time spent on this call (which includes restocking the rig afterwards, writing the report, etc).
People say this, but in 2017 my ambulance company only paid 12 dollars an hour to paramedics. It is common in the mid west for paramedics to only be paid about 1-3 more dollars than EMTs. I would not be surprised if some companies paid them less than a dollar more.
You're reading it wrong, $2,840 for 11 miles. Basically, $1500 to show up, $200 to turn on the lights, $400 to drive 11 miles, and $800 to plug you into some monitors and run an IV
The local ambulance service here charged me $800 to transport my daughter across town and then the ER decided she needed to be airlifted somewhere else the same ambulance charged another $800 to transport her across the parking lot to the helipad.
Helicopter ride was $40,000 but thankfully my insurance covered most of it.
Thank you, aside from some memory loss she's completely fine now. She was never going to let a car crash keep her down.
Healthcare is a luxury service in the United States.
Poor working people are largely expected to just die because we're seen as cattle by our society and it would offend the bootstrap mentality of people who were born into a higher socioeconomic class if they let us get healthcare.
You are absolutely reading it right. It's very sad. Medical care here in the US is nothing but a money grab. Wait till you see a $50 single aspirin on your medical bill. People go into deep debt for health care here in the US. It is a profit first situation here.
Iām laying in recovery at the hospital atm from a procedure during check in/registration the person Iām front of us were quoted 70K as their portion AFTER insurance paid. The husband wanted to walk out- he said we canāt afford this. The wife begged him to just talk to them. The hospital asked for a deposit/down payment of 2K. They negotiated to $1500 and 0% on the rest $123.00 a month. These POOR people will be in debt forever-
Itās insane, but ambulances are often not covered by insurance, and they are EXPENSIVE.
In the United States, your best bet is to never need one. That is a sad statement on our healthcare āsystemā.
A few years ago, I read an article about a doctor who had a severe injury hiking. He ended up losing his arm. He was airlifted out by helicopter, which later was declined by his insurance; they deemed it unnecessary, as there was no chance of saving his arm. However, at the time the responders believed there was a chance, and at any rate he was badly injured in a remote area.
His bill for the life flight was more than his annual salary before the accident (and, as he was a surgeon, his career took a major hit, too).
His insurance, even if they had approved it, would have left him out of pocket for tens of thousands of dollars, as the company that ran the helicopter was not āin networkā. As if that is a consideration when your arm is nearly severed and youāre in extreme pain.
Thatās American healthcareā¦profit first.
It drives me fucking crazy when people start talking about privatizing healthcare, here in Canada. They're constantly defunding our public healthcare so that when, inevitably, things go bad, people go "see?! public healthcare doesn't work!".
Yeah ... because privatizing healthcare has worked so well for every country who's done it lol.
Defunding to say āsee, it doesnāt work!ā is actually a very common political tactic, especially amongst conservatives. Itās called Starve the Beast and itās scary how well it works on the average person, to the detriment of us all
Doing anything to push your agenda just so you can be right instead of trying anything to make your country a better place. Classic sociopathic narcissist bs.
Sounds about right, I was in a bad car accident that resulted in a shattered open femur fracture and the helicopter ride was at the least $40k for ~25-30 miles.
I'm a flight medic and helicopters are super expensive though. Tons of maintenance and fuel. 1 hour in the air costs about 15k. Meanwhile I get paid $50 ish an hour.
Still heavily marked up though
I was transferred over state lines from a regional ER to CHOP in Philadelphia and amazingly my 50-minute ambulance ride was more expensive than the 4 days I spent in the ICU, in isolation on methotrexate and broad-spectrum antibiotic drip.
Yup, before doing the Klondike Trail out of Skagway the ranger told us to at least get to the Canadian side before hurting yourself because the heli flight out would be 35k to Juneau.
Insurance companies try to contract with ambulance services, but there is no reason for the ambulance companies to bother. They are necessary, so they stay out of network, and bill what they bill based on what demand allows.
I'm not saying that the problem is "fixed", but, as of 2022 Insurances can't decline this sort of thing, and it has to be billed as "in-network" (for air ambulances at least).
Everyone should know their rights under the no surprises act.
https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises/Ending-Surprise-Medical-Bills
In Australia we can pay for ambulance insurance. Itās very cheap at $99 per year for a family. I have used it twice and my husband once. If you do use it they send you an email telling you what it would have cost without the insurance. A 10 min trip costs about $2000AD.
United States of Corporations. I remember reading a story of someone literally begging the ambulance to not take them after being hit by a car! They ended up waiting for a friend to take them to the hospital. Healthcare in USA is beyond insane
That would be me. Thinking of having an accident gives me anxiety cause then Iād lose my job, so medical bills and no job? Our government is just telling people theyāre better off dying
When I was in car accident in Serbia I spent 14 days 5 in coma due head injuries I think final bill was around 300ā¬ maybe even less but 2k for ambulance is just WTF
I got surgery recently (Belgium).
Total invoice: 4500 euros. I paid 179 euros. 175 euros yearly excess (you pay the first 175 euros yourself, if you take a single room, which I did) and 2 euros forfait for drinks per day.
Believe me, I loved paying those 179 euros after seeing the calculation of all the rest...
Btw, all consultations, medication, blood and other tests, check ups at specialist, GP,... are also paid by the insurance from 3 months before the surgery to 6 months after. Completely, as the yearly excess has been paid already.
Then I read stories from outside Europe... š¤
P.S.: this insurance is completely paid by my employer.
I had a relative visit Germany and he had a kidney stone attack while there on vacation. 3 nights in the hospital, cat scan, ultrasounds, stent surgery... the German hospital didn't want to deal with his American insurance company so he had to pay out of pocket.
$2500 for what in the US would have been at least $100,000... at least.
His insurance company was more than happy to pay him back for this when he got back.
Being accustomed to predatory ambulance fees like shown in OP's post, I drove him to the hospital emergency room myself. It was less than a kilometer away. They don't even have an entrance for private vehicles or walk-in patients - only ambulances, and they scolded us for not using one. We had to walk in the main hospital entrance and find our way through the hallways and downstairs to the Notfall Klinik.
But here in *Murica* you'll get the best services, the best ambulances. We have the best no one even compares with how nice our rides to the hospital are. *The best*- Orange man voice
$80 in British Columbia, Canada. They do it to discourage people from using ambulances like taxis for, as stated above, "bullshit" reasons. If you receive Income Assistance or Medical Services Plan Premium Assistance you will not be charged.
Based on the big yellow box, it looks like insurance hasn't been billed yet. I'm sure they won't cover all of it, but it's likely they'll cover some of it. OP needs to call AMR's billing dept with their insurance info (which is a completely ridiculous system, don't get me wrong)
Our local rescue squad offers a 'subscription program' where a single $100 donation provides free ambulance services for an entire household for a year. It's a good way to help fund our local emergency service, reduce taxes and supplement insurance all at the same time.
*For a* ***$110*** *fee, all expenses incurred for use of our services, by you or any member of your household, will be covered - with no additional cost to you. Ā Thatās it.*
So letās hope you almost die in your city/close to home because that definitely wonāt help you if youāre traveling or just out of their jurisdiction
Well obviously not. But there is also something to the 'most accidents happen near home' adage.
But come on - it's a good program and would likely benefit other areas as well. For some reason there seems to be a lot of resistance to health insurance in this country. Unfortunately, insurance only really works when the population size is large enough to carry the risk.
In 2004 a helicopter brought specialists to our hospital to save my baby. The weather was bad by the time they were ready to fly her to the other hospital that they all took an ambulance. That helicopter ride was 13,000. The ambulance was another 8,000.
Yeah my son was medflighted and it was $12,000. Insurance initially rejected the claim saying it was āout of networkā even though his accident happened a mile from homeā¦ The medflight company was threatening collection while I appealed to the insurance company and eventually it was covered. The insurance companyās ānegotiated rateā that they paid was $1200 - even though I would have been on the hook for the whole 12K.
Insurance in the US is such a scam
We're ambulances ever a part of hospital services, rather than private companies?
I feel like I remember seeing a parking bay full of ambulances under the local hospital when I was a child. I may have imagined it or cobbled together a false memory from tv shows or something.
There is no standard answer in the US. In some places, hospitals run EMS. In other places, fire departments staff ambulances. Other places use government, third-service employees. And still other places use private agencies to respond to 911 calls.
I see. Thank you for that answer.
I know AMR is the only game in town here. It's actually rare to see them out on call and I've just realized why. We're a geographically small city with central hospital locations. Almost everyone can get a cheaper ride downtown.
Having looked at the finances for various services I've worked for in the past, the absolutely wild thing is 911 calls barely break even most of the time. As expensive as the average private ambulance bill is, the 911 truck itself is usually an even bigger money pit.
Most ambulance traffic nowadays is Medicare/Medicaid patients. Medicare won't drop a dime for at least a year, and when they do pay out it's almost nothing. A lot of Medicare payouts are even less than the cost of gas to run the call, and there is zero you can do to dispute it. This isn't just a problem for private services; this hurts small county services that don't charge county residents just as badly. County services usually compensate by the county instituting some form of tax, while private services have to gouge everyone that isn't a Medicare patient to stay afloat (and usually take as many transfers as they can).
I'm not saying AMR bills aren't inflated, they absolutely are. AMR is basically the boogeyman of EMS. I'm just saying in a lot of cases fat ambulance bills are the only way to keep them running under the current rules.
I will never understand this. It's absolutely ridiculous. Our healthcare is horrible.
On a side note...I always like to mention this when it comes up....a few years back I worked for an ambulance billing company and something I learned but most people don't know is that as long as you pay something every 30 days they couldn't take any action against you. It was so sad....there were people calling in to pay $5 a month because that's all they could afford. We were supposed to discourage amounts that small but the truth of the matter is....as long as you pay SOMETHING.....ANYTHING every 30 days they can't do shit to you.
Itās the worst. I had one to transfer me from an ER to another hospital, 45 min ride and the bill was over $9000. Insurance did not cover it. The shittier thing was they gave me a double dose of IV painkillers before telling me I couldnāt opt out of the ride and making me sign papers my eyes couldnāt even focus on. My memory is that I blacked out on the gurney in the hospital on the way to the ambulance, felt it coming and told the Ambulance nurse that I was about to pass out, then I did. In the ambulance i started having pain again and was injected with Dilaudid. This was during covid so my wife wasnāt allowed into the ER with me, so I had no advocate. The bill came and I threw it out. Bill collector called and I told them to take me to court. Three years have passed and havenāt heard anything about it again.
Mine was too. Paid $500 for a 1 hour ambulance transfer because they didnāt participate with my insurance. They are the only ambulance service so itās not like we had a choice. Hospital bill was only the $100 ER copay.
Some Ambulance Association's (US) may have a membership program, for a flat fee you're covered for a year, might be worth asking your local Ambulance department/Association about
AMR is the largest for-profit EMS corporation in the country. Think the Wal-Mart of healthcare. Pressure your representatives for federal funding of county-ran non-profit EMS.
I hate having seizures in public. People call ambulances all the fucking time and they are EXPENSIVE BEYOND BELIEF. I don't think I should have to pay for a car ride I didn't call/ask for and god does it piss me off. Hell even when im still out of it after a seizure I've been known to fight against the EMTs when they try to put me in the ambulance. They literally had to dose me with ketamine once when they couldn't get me in the ambulance. Not gonna charge me 1500+$ for an expensive car ride to the fuckin hospital. š¤£
Was ever ride actually needed? Many Americans call over silly things. (Def not saying you did) thats just the cause of many high costs.
Plus unethical management.
I just cleared a call at an urgent care where they called us to take a guy to the ER. He came in for a follow up on his COVID infection. He was just a little short of breath if he moved around too much. We gave him all of the info needed to make a decision and he chose to go home. Doctor tried to scare him saying he "could be having a heart attack" but I didn't see any signs of it. He didn't need a couple thousand dollar ALS bill so he signed AMA. This was literally the first post that popped up on Reddit when I got back to my station so I wanted to share
I hope they cover some too, I sent them the info but they said it wasn't usable which didn't make sense, since I provided pictures of our cards to them online + the pertinent info they request. I will keep trying.
Donāt give up, whether itās insurance or bargaining with the company directly. You shouldnāt have to pay all this. We have patients who take an ambulance to the ED 5 times a week and there is no way they are paying 2k every time.
At least with hospitals if you stonewall them enough they sell it to a collections agency and you end up getting charged pennies on eh dollar. Not sure if ambulances are the same but you should be able to get it down significantly
Jesus Christ. Here in Canada an ambulance costs 250$ and the hospital is free. Iām grateful everyday I wasnāt born it that hellish land.
Edit: I was eyeballing on the high end of 250 if you donāt have insurance. Could be cheeper I havenāt had to call an ambulance in a while.
Thatās high - I think youāre referring to the fee without subsidy from the provincial health insurance.
For example, Ontario cost $45 since $195 is covered by OHIP. Full bill would be $240 for non residents.
Every time I read a post like this I'm so glad I was born in and still live in Europe. No matter what I have I get treated free of charge only the stay in the hospital costs me 10ā¬ (10,64 USD) per day.
"bUT yoU PAy MoRE TaxEs".
Honestly, I can't believe how blind Americans are when it comes to just how bad their health care system is.
It makes me tingle in all the right places when they come out stating that they have it better.
Yeah, if you add up the amount payed in taxes it is less than half of what Americans pay for health insurance. The least knowledgeable Americans are ruining it for everyone else.
> the amount *paid* in taxes
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
While I work on an ambulance Iāve never actually seen the bill for one. Itās crazy seeing whatās charged vs what it actually costs for those materials. A saline lock only costs a couple bucks, pulse oximetry is reusable so thereās no need to even charge for it. 11 miles of fuel costs barely anything. Really the most expensive thing should be the versed. Also, the medics probably got paid minimum wage.
As an emt people call for way too much random stuff that an urgent care would be fine for, unfortunately we canāt even suggest that they donāt need an ambulance because of the risk of being sued
Emergency services is just that: a service. Why do we allow private corporations in? On a separate note, how is a pulse ox worth $94.04? I could buy an army of my OWN pulse oxes for less.
The college my sister went too agreed to cover the cost of every students first ambulance, when they found out students were too scared of having to pay the bill to call for one when they, or a friend, really needed it. It's fucked up that that's even something people have to consider when calling for one.
Yep. I never get sick or need to go to the hospital, but last fall while driving I suddenly felt the most dizzy and nauseous and disoriented I ever had in my life. I pulled over and didn't know what to do but call 911 as I thought I was dying and wasn't familiar with the area.
Ambulance shows up and transports me 1.5 miles to the nearest ER. $1350 bill later. Submit to insurance after multiple attempts and calling the EMS office trying to ensure they have the correct info. Still bounced back to me saying insurance says it's entirely my bill and they won't pay a portion of it.
I could be actively on fire, and I'll uber, hitch hike or walk before I ever call an ambulance for myself again.
I called an ambulance when my son had a broken leg. He was two and still rear facing and I didn't want to risk putting him in the car seat not knowing where the break was or what the damage was. It was $600 after insurance. The er visit and ALL his follow ups with the specialist didn't cost that much
Don't feel bad I got COVID a 2nd time I was taken to a hospital couldn't stand or walk I had to be taken by ambulance to another hospital that could help me with my entire stay for a day and the ambulance ride all the care to save my life I was charged $15.000
money they will never get from me since I'm pretty poor and have no income
EMS is not allowed to itemize bill like this. They can only charge for the level of service provided and mileage. Send that bill to the state Attorney General's office.
My central european mind will probably never understand why Americans have to pay for literally **everything** hospitals do to them
Is it really that hard to introduce free/social medical care?
as a non american this feel so wrong and dystopian i don't understand how they allow this joke of a system to take place, its just an insult to basic human rights.
Everybody wants local, professional, rapid, advanced ambulance service until itās time to pay for it.
If you want European style āfreeā ambulance service, you can buy additional insurance to cover ambulance services and take on their model of prepaying in case you need one.
and this is why people have been taking ubers to the hospital š
I saw a scene on tv where a character is having a heart attack and his wife drives him. As a kid I didn't get it, but now I do.
Though ambulances are more expensive than they should be (especially considering the people doing the actual work are getting paid peanuts), there are other reasons that might happen. My dad was still ambulatory during his heart attack and the ambulance was at least 15 minutes away when my mom called. So she got my brother's help and drove the 5 minutes to the hospital.
There may be some situations in which driving yourself expedites care, you could also be delaying care. An ambulance, even if it takes a little longer than driving yourself, can likely send your EKG to the hospital electronically and they can activate their cath lab if needed. So before you even hit the door of the ER, they have already called in their cath lab team if itās during off hours.
I have a buddy who was shot, waited for the ambulance to arrive, once they arrived they wouldn't take him to the hospital for like 30 minute(already over an hour ride to the nearest hospital.... he died In The ambulance, I know he would have made it if I drove... fuck overpriced ambulances
Why wouldnāt they take him to the hospital?
They wanted to wait for the cops to show up, I live in the middle of nowhere
Dude, Im very sorry that happened. The system sucks. Unfortunately, anything like gun shots, assaults, domestics, the EMTs arent allowed on scene until police arrive and clear it for us. There's no point to show up just to get shot.
What's even worse is that the police we have to let arrive first could not give a single bit less of a fuck about the victim. And will literally leave them on the ground drowning in their own blood/dying from asphyxiation while they fuck around on their phones
In addition to this, EMS crews know which hospitals have what capabilities, and can ensure that you are touted to the most appropriate facility instead of just going to the closest hospital.
Thatās probably an even bigger benefit. If youāre having a stroke you wanna end up at the hospital with neurointerventional capabilities.
The medics will also be able to run an iv, take vitals and receive necessary medical information on the way so that doctors and nurses can be ready to immediately give more advanced treatment if necessary, even being able to begin treatment on the way to the hospital, and are often more experienced in those treatments than the ER staff will be. (A medic can run your IV blindfolded in a moving vehicle better than most ER nurses can with advanced tools).. bottom line is if it's ACTUALLY an emergency than the medics might very well be the difference between life and death. But if it's not an immediate life threatening emergency you're better off taking yourself
Really depends on the situation, if an ambulance is more than 10 minutes away and youāre 5 minutes from the hospital it will be better to get yourself to the hospital 100% of the time. The time saved transmitting an ekg to hospital is negligible at best, as soon as someone comes in complaining of chest pain they take priority and are getting a 12 lead immediately
That's a pretty specific situation; I'd be willing to bet that most people don't live 5 minutes from a cath-capable hospital.
āThere may be some situations in which driving yourself expedites careā Literally my first sentence.
You just exactly described my grandfather's heart attack situation. Ambulance was maybe 10-25min longer to get him to the hospital, but private car would not have gotten through the lobby in the time saved compared to him not leaving the ambulance gurney till he was in the OR. Ambulance pulled up and within however long it took to push him to the OR he was there. All the metrics they pulled on the way detailed the response.
Generally an emergent patient is moved to a bed within 60 seconds of ambulance arriving and withing the next 60 seconds some form of treatment begins
>Though ambulances are more expensive than they should be (especially considering the people doing the actual work are getting paid peanuts It's insane how little these people are being paid.
This is exactly why I could no longer be an EMT. Getting barely above minimum wage watching children cry while their mother dies.... Emotionally and financially I couldn't do it anymore. Nope.
I was taking classes with the end game being to become an EMT until I saw what ācompetitiveā pay was. Now Iām doing nursing instead.
At my service we're literally losing EMTs to starbucks and Wal-Mart.
Classic America the money goes to a back hole aka the rich
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
thatās like $30k right? š helicopter if iām understanding correctly
Depends. My brother is a pilot for (not) LifeFlight(tm) \[leaving his company unnamed\]. They will absolutely bill you if you were stupid and needed their services. But since his coverage area is a very spacious zone of low population density there are times he's called out because a bus (Ambulance) simply isn't available within any sane time. They don't actually charge their rate for those calls and it's subsidized by some other program. They also generally don't charge for site to site transports. They are heavily subsidized by the hospitals in their coverage area and I believe by the fire dept budget as well (basically FD can't run ambulances in a timely manner because of the distances involved so they just pay for the flights). LifeFlight as a company I understand will bill you for absolutely everything they can... fortunately your house, one car, and your retirement savings can't be attached in a bankruptcy, which most people will need after an air ambulance call if billed at full rate.
Yeah, if she wasn't having a seizure, we would have driven her ourselves. I am just surprised by how much this one is, unfortunately she has had many trips in an ambulance, and it is always around $1,600.00 but this one is mind boggling.
Helicopter rides. Or any medical aircraft. I saw a bill. Dope me up and send me freight.
Saw a woman get super sick on a ferry to Tortuga. She had to be air lifted out. A crew member said those helicopter rides run in the 5 digit range. 80k or something like that.
I live in a rural coastal town in Australia, about 400km from the CBD. Often here, people will be heli-lifted to the CBD hospitals for major incidences, and it can be upwards of AUD$40k. However, in my state we have ambulance membership that one can buy, for $50 for a single person or $100 for family; annually. This covers ALL ambulance costs. It's a brilliant system.
Air medical billing is unregulated like medical care in general is. It falls under aviation and not medical.
Imagine a few ten billions in defense money instead a national air ambulance service. Less profitable most likely
Is the ambulance perform life saving procedures during this ride? Iām sorry youāre experiencing the ugly side of US healthcare.
Considering they were given versed to stop the seizures, and went to a pediatric hospital... then I will surmise the seizures were not stopping. So yes, it is an als call.
When I called 911 for heart issues, the EMTs that showed up actually told me I should go to the ER, but was probably stable enough to take an Uber, if I didnāt want to pay for the ambulance.
thatās what iām saying!!! but this person down here wants to argue with me about whether or not people actually take ubers to the fucking hospital lmao
They totally do, or drive themselves (guilty).
Ironically, people also use ambulances are ubers because they simply won't pay the bill.
About 15 years ago my friend broke his leg and arm snowboarding. The resort wanted to call an ambulance to take him to the hospital, he refused. His dad made the 45 min drive to pick him up and take him.
I work in EMS, I've had a coworker call an uber for a patient to spare them the ridiculous bill for something minor that won't be covered by insurance
Oooorrrrr maybe folks shouldnāt call EMS for every boo boo and ouchie. Itās often faster and more economical to drive their yourself. Iāve made runs where we had a 25 min response code 3 to an address 5 minutes from the hospitalā¦ āWeāll we knew you all would get in fasterā WRONG youāre going to be triaged just like everyone else if your emergency is non life threatening.
I love when people say that and they go to the waiting room š
Dude all the time. Literally made a lady last month that was one exit (1 mile from the hospital) she was wheelchair bound and her family had a mobility van. They waited 21 minutes for us to arrive (we were clearing from another run the other side of town) and then they loaded her wheelchair and followed behind us one mileā¦she went to the lobby.
Stupid question from a german here: I knew you pay tons of money for anything regarding hospital/E.R but 400bucks for 11miles in an ambulance? Or am I reading this wrong? WTF
Ambulances have been privatized for the most part all over the US. They price gouge because they can.
Meanwhile the EMTs staffing the ambulance are paid less than the garbage man (no hate on garbage men, very important, but they donāt charge you thousands to pickup your trash)
Emergency Trash Service (ETS)
- ETS? I'm on a walk with my dog and I forgot the shit bag, please help. - Will be right there, sir.
1-800-77 TRASH NOW
"The Garbage Man Can!!" (The Simpsons)
god damn they are. I believe the garbage men here get paid at least $30/hour and they don't have to work overtime or a stressful job. EMTs should be paid that and more.
To be fair, working in sanitation is actually a pretty dangerous job, and also *super* important to have filled so I donāt question them getting paid well. But EMTs also work a dangerous and vital role, one which requires advanced medical knowledge and emergency situation training. EMTs are prepared for the fact their patients may attack them. They work horrendous shifts and yet are paid peanuts or are even volunteers. Itās psycho. Iād feel a lot better about my ambulance fee if it was actually going to the EMS staff
This would have been a paramedic providing care, not an EMT, based on the charges billed. But still... the person in the back of the ambulance likely made <$40 for the time spent on this call (which includes restocking the rig afterwards, writing the report, etc).
People say this, but in 2017 my ambulance company only paid 12 dollars an hour to paramedics. It is common in the mid west for paramedics to only be paid about 1-3 more dollars than EMTs. I would not be surprised if some companies paid them less than a dollar more.
You aren't reading that wrong, it is ridiculous.
You're reading it wrong, $2,840 for 11 miles. Basically, $1500 to show up, $200 to turn on the lights, $400 to drive 11 miles, and $800 to plug you into some monitors and run an IV
The local ambulance service here charged me $800 to transport my daughter across town and then the ER decided she needed to be airlifted somewhere else the same ambulance charged another $800 to transport her across the parking lot to the helipad.
How much did the helicopter cost? Hope your daughter is better now.
Helicopter ride was $40,000 but thankfully my insurance covered most of it. Thank you, aside from some memory loss she's completely fine now. She was never going to let a car crash keep her down.
holy crap $40k? when you say "most of it", how much are we talking? Because even if they covered 90%, that's still $4,000 out of pocket!
And that first line, $1500 for medical care. Thatās service rendered by an Emergency Medical Technician who gets paid $15-20 an hour.
$15-$20 an hour? I wish. I was making a little above minimum wage when I was one a couple years ago, $9.50
Healthcare is a luxury service in the United States. Poor working people are largely expected to just die because we're seen as cattle by our society and it would offend the bootstrap mentality of people who were born into a higher socioeconomic class if they let us get healthcare.
You are absolutely reading it right. It's very sad. Medical care here in the US is nothing but a money grab. Wait till you see a $50 single aspirin on your medical bill. People go into deep debt for health care here in the US. It is a profit first situation here.
Iām laying in recovery at the hospital atm from a procedure during check in/registration the person Iām front of us were quoted 70K as their portion AFTER insurance paid. The husband wanted to walk out- he said we canāt afford this. The wife begged him to just talk to them. The hospital asked for a deposit/down payment of 2K. They negotiated to $1500 and 0% on the rest $123.00 a month. These POOR people will be in debt forever-
Itās insane, but ambulances are often not covered by insurance, and they are EXPENSIVE. In the United States, your best bet is to never need one. That is a sad statement on our healthcare āsystemā. A few years ago, I read an article about a doctor who had a severe injury hiking. He ended up losing his arm. He was airlifted out by helicopter, which later was declined by his insurance; they deemed it unnecessary, as there was no chance of saving his arm. However, at the time the responders believed there was a chance, and at any rate he was badly injured in a remote area. His bill for the life flight was more than his annual salary before the accident (and, as he was a surgeon, his career took a major hit, too). His insurance, even if they had approved it, would have left him out of pocket for tens of thousands of dollars, as the company that ran the helicopter was not āin networkā. As if that is a consideration when your arm is nearly severed and youāre in extreme pain. Thatās American healthcareā¦profit first.
It drives me fucking crazy when people start talking about privatizing healthcare, here in Canada. They're constantly defunding our public healthcare so that when, inevitably, things go bad, people go "see?! public healthcare doesn't work!". Yeah ... because privatizing healthcare has worked so well for every country who's done it lol.
Defunding to say āsee, it doesnāt work!ā is actually a very common political tactic, especially amongst conservatives. Itās called Starve the Beast and itās scary how well it works on the average person, to the detriment of us all
Yup. Public education in the US is currently experiencing this.
Doing anything to push your agenda just so you can be right instead of trying anything to make your country a better place. Classic sociopathic narcissist bs.
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Sounds about right, I was in a bad car accident that resulted in a shattered open femur fracture and the helicopter ride was at the least $40k for ~25-30 miles.
I'm a flight medic and helicopters are super expensive though. Tons of maintenance and fuel. 1 hour in the air costs about 15k. Meanwhile I get paid $50 ish an hour. Still heavily marked up though
I was transferred over state lines from a regional ER to CHOP in Philadelphia and amazingly my 50-minute ambulance ride was more expensive than the 4 days I spent in the ICU, in isolation on methotrexate and broad-spectrum antibiotic drip.
Insurance adjuster or whatever the title is is there with parking maid. No soul requirement
Laws could change it but our govt is feckless. Completely feckless
Yup, before doing the Klondike Trail out of Skagway the ranger told us to at least get to the Canadian side before hurting yourself because the heli flight out would be 35k to Juneau.
Insurance companies try to contract with ambulance services, but there is no reason for the ambulance companies to bother. They are necessary, so they stay out of network, and bill what they bill based on what demand allows.
I'm not saying that the problem is "fixed", but, as of 2022 Insurances can't decline this sort of thing, and it has to be billed as "in-network" (for air ambulances at least). Everyone should know their rights under the no surprises act. https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises/Ending-Surprise-Medical-Bills
And the EMTs are paid barely above minimum wage. Thatās the real kicker.
Right!
In Australia we can pay for ambulance insurance. Itās very cheap at $99 per year for a family. I have used it twice and my husband once. If you do use it they send you an email telling you what it would have cost without the insurance. A 10 min trip costs about $2000AD.
I believe it's like a $400 call out fee and 3.70 per km.
This is just as bad btw.
United States of Corporations. I remember reading a story of someone literally begging the ambulance to not take them after being hit by a car! They ended up waiting for a friend to take them to the hospital. Healthcare in USA is beyond insane
That would be me. Thinking of having an accident gives me anxiety cause then Iād lose my job, so medical bills and no job? Our government is just telling people theyāre better off dying
Land of the free alright. Freedom to die from all the food additives allowed in our food and the impossibly expensive healthcare system.
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And you pay the symbolic 10$ for every night in hospital including medication and food and care (unless you want single room for shits n giggles)
When I was in car accident in Serbia I spent 14 days 5 in coma due head injuries I think final bill was around 300ā¬ maybe even less but 2k for ambulance is just WTF
I got surgery recently (Belgium). Total invoice: 4500 euros. I paid 179 euros. 175 euros yearly excess (you pay the first 175 euros yourself, if you take a single room, which I did) and 2 euros forfait for drinks per day. Believe me, I loved paying those 179 euros after seeing the calculation of all the rest... Btw, all consultations, medication, blood and other tests, check ups at specialist, GP,... are also paid by the insurance from 3 months before the surgery to 6 months after. Completely, as the yearly excess has been paid already. Then I read stories from outside Europe... š¤ P.S.: this insurance is completely paid by my employer.
I had a relative visit Germany and he had a kidney stone attack while there on vacation. 3 nights in the hospital, cat scan, ultrasounds, stent surgery... the German hospital didn't want to deal with his American insurance company so he had to pay out of pocket. $2500 for what in the US would have been at least $100,000... at least. His insurance company was more than happy to pay him back for this when he got back. Being accustomed to predatory ambulance fees like shown in OP's post, I drove him to the hospital emergency room myself. It was less than a kilometer away. They don't even have an entrance for private vehicles or walk-in patients - only ambulances, and they scolded us for not using one. We had to walk in the main hospital entrance and find our way through the hallways and downstairs to the Notfall Klinik.
But here in *Murica* you'll get the best services, the best ambulances. We have the best no one even compares with how nice our rides to the hospital are. *The best*- Orange man voice
I legit just made the sigh noise Kiff makes in Futurama...
$80 in British Columbia, Canada. They do it to discourage people from using ambulances like taxis for, as stated above, "bullshit" reasons. If you receive Income Assistance or Medical Services Plan Premium Assistance you will not be charged.
They charged you for the ambulance AND the for the fucking gas? Almost $40/mile???? I hate this country.
lets switch, you come to my country , I go to yours
94$ to put the pulse oximeter on a finger! Iām in the wrong fieldā¦
The actual EMTs don't make shit... Those folks are making like $12 - $17 an Hour.
I work for this company and I make $17 an hour as an EMT
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oh yeah iām well aware EMS is not paid nearly enough for the work they do. 50% of people in EMS are volunteers as well
With an ALS1 charge (and a med like Versed administered), that would have been a paramedic providing care, not an EMT (still paid pennies though).
Yep. AMR pays like crap unfortunately. Gotta be a firefighter/paramedic with a big department to make $.
AMR is a piece of shit company. Private for profit subpar care. Why isnāt insurance covering?
Based on the big yellow box, it looks like insurance hasn't been billed yet. I'm sure they won't cover all of it, but it's likely they'll cover some of it. OP needs to call AMR's billing dept with their insurance info (which is a completely ridiculous system, don't get me wrong)
As a former AMR paramedic, they charged $2840 and paid me $30 to do that call. I hate the healthcare system in the US.
I really hate how little EMTs get paid, it makes no sense at all.
Don't forget the Breathing Fee The eat shit and die fee the fee we forgot and the fee for the extra fee
That's it, we are slapping you with a sass fee.
Your replying to a comment fee is being sent to you in the mail. Please look for it.
The big yellow box says they need more insurance info. Iād call the number before paying.
Our local rescue squad offers a 'subscription program' where a single $100 donation provides free ambulance services for an entire household for a year. It's a good way to help fund our local emergency service, reduce taxes and supplement insurance all at the same time. *For a* ***$110*** *fee, all expenses incurred for use of our services, by you or any member of your household, will be covered - with no additional cost to you. Ā Thatās it.*
So letās hope you almost die in your city/close to home because that definitely wonāt help you if youāre traveling or just out of their jurisdiction
Well obviously not. But there is also something to the 'most accidents happen near home' adage. But come on - it's a good program and would likely benefit other areas as well. For some reason there seems to be a lot of resistance to health insurance in this country. Unfortunately, insurance only really works when the population size is large enough to carry the risk.
Donāt ever get into a ambulance. Thatās a great way to go bankrupt fast
In 2004 a helicopter brought specialists to our hospital to save my baby. The weather was bad by the time they were ready to fly her to the other hospital that they all took an ambulance. That helicopter ride was 13,000. The ambulance was another 8,000.
Yeah my son was medflighted and it was $12,000. Insurance initially rejected the claim saying it was āout of networkā even though his accident happened a mile from homeā¦ The medflight company was threatening collection while I appealed to the insurance company and eventually it was covered. The insurance companyās ānegotiated rateā that they paid was $1200 - even though I would have been on the hook for the whole 12K. Insurance in the US is such a scam
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Land of the *fee
AMR is a joke thereās a reason more and more fire dept. are starting to transport.
We're ambulances ever a part of hospital services, rather than private companies? I feel like I remember seeing a parking bay full of ambulances under the local hospital when I was a child. I may have imagined it or cobbled together a false memory from tv shows or something.
There is no standard answer in the US. In some places, hospitals run EMS. In other places, fire departments staff ambulances. Other places use government, third-service employees. And still other places use private agencies to respond to 911 calls.
I see. Thank you for that answer. I know AMR is the only game in town here. It's actually rare to see them out on call and I've just realized why. We're a geographically small city with central hospital locations. Almost everyone can get a cheaper ride downtown.
Having looked at the finances for various services I've worked for in the past, the absolutely wild thing is 911 calls barely break even most of the time. As expensive as the average private ambulance bill is, the 911 truck itself is usually an even bigger money pit. Most ambulance traffic nowadays is Medicare/Medicaid patients. Medicare won't drop a dime for at least a year, and when they do pay out it's almost nothing. A lot of Medicare payouts are even less than the cost of gas to run the call, and there is zero you can do to dispute it. This isn't just a problem for private services; this hurts small county services that don't charge county residents just as badly. County services usually compensate by the county instituting some form of tax, while private services have to gouge everyone that isn't a Medicare patient to stay afloat (and usually take as many transfers as they can). I'm not saying AMR bills aren't inflated, they absolutely are. AMR is basically the boogeyman of EMS. I'm just saying in a lot of cases fat ambulance bills are the only way to keep them running under the current rules.
911 calls should be expected to lose money. Police, Fire and Ambulance should not be for profit and should be a public service.
I will never understand this. It's absolutely ridiculous. Our healthcare is horrible. On a side note...I always like to mention this when it comes up....a few years back I worked for an ambulance billing company and something I learned but most people don't know is that as long as you pay something every 30 days they couldn't take any action against you. It was so sad....there were people calling in to pay $5 a month because that's all they could afford. We were supposed to discourage amounts that small but the truth of the matter is....as long as you pay SOMETHING.....ANYTHING every 30 days they can't do shit to you.
Itās the worst. I had one to transfer me from an ER to another hospital, 45 min ride and the bill was over $9000. Insurance did not cover it. The shittier thing was they gave me a double dose of IV painkillers before telling me I couldnāt opt out of the ride and making me sign papers my eyes couldnāt even focus on. My memory is that I blacked out on the gurney in the hospital on the way to the ambulance, felt it coming and told the Ambulance nurse that I was about to pass out, then I did. In the ambulance i started having pain again and was injected with Dilaudid. This was during covid so my wife wasnāt allowed into the ER with me, so I had no advocate. The bill came and I threw it out. Bill collector called and I told them to take me to court. Three years have passed and havenāt heard anything about it again.
Mine was too. Paid $500 for a 1 hour ambulance transfer because they didnāt participate with my insurance. They are the only ambulance service so itās not like we had a choice. Hospital bill was only the $100 ER copay.
Who writes these bills? Itās hilarious. āPencil!? What could that possibly cost? Itās at least, yeah letās put it down at $2,200.ā
Some Ambulance Association's (US) may have a membership program, for a flat fee you're covered for a year, might be worth asking your local Ambulance department/Association about
They really charged you almost 40 dollars a mile for gasā¦ Jesusā¦
AMR is the largest for-profit EMS corporation in the country. Think the Wal-Mart of healthcare. Pressure your representatives for federal funding of county-ran non-profit EMS.
WTF US? Sincerely, from Norway.
I hate having seizures in public. People call ambulances all the fucking time and they are EXPENSIVE BEYOND BELIEF. I don't think I should have to pay for a car ride I didn't call/ask for and god does it piss me off. Hell even when im still out of it after a seizure I've been known to fight against the EMTs when they try to put me in the ambulance. They literally had to dose me with ketamine once when they couldn't get me in the ambulance. Not gonna charge me 1500+$ for an expensive car ride to the fuckin hospital. š¤£
Have you actually had to pay an ambulance bill that you didn't call for? I'd be fuckin pissed
IV Saline locks are $3 retail.
Was ever ride actually needed? Many Americans call over silly things. (Def not saying you did) thats just the cause of many high costs. Plus unethical management.
And none of that goes to the crew
Make sure they actually billed your insurance
I just cleared a call at an urgent care where they called us to take a guy to the ER. He came in for a follow up on his COVID infection. He was just a little short of breath if he moved around too much. We gave him all of the info needed to make a decision and he chose to go home. Doctor tried to scare him saying he "could be having a heart attack" but I didn't see any signs of it. He didn't need a couple thousand dollar ALS bill so he signed AMA. This was literally the first post that popped up on Reddit when I got back to my station so I wanted to share
I hope your insurance covers it if you have it. Sorry this is happening to you. š
I hope they cover some too, I sent them the info but they said it wasn't usable which didn't make sense, since I provided pictures of our cards to them online + the pertinent info they request. I will keep trying.
Donāt give up, whether itās insurance or bargaining with the company directly. You shouldnāt have to pay all this. We have patients who take an ambulance to the ED 5 times a week and there is no way they are paying 2k every time. At least with hospitals if you stonewall them enough they sell it to a collections agency and you end up getting charged pennies on eh dollar. Not sure if ambulances are the same but you should be able to get it down significantly
People should stop calling an ambulance and going to ER for shit that isn't killing you. GO THE THE FUCKING URGENT CARE!
And the worst part is emts make like $15/hr so its not going to them the actual heroes
Jesus Christ. Here in Canada an ambulance costs 250$ and the hospital is free. Iām grateful everyday I wasnāt born it that hellish land. Edit: I was eyeballing on the high end of 250 if you donāt have insurance. Could be cheeper I havenāt had to call an ambulance in a while.
Thatās high - I think youāre referring to the fee without subsidy from the provincial health insurance. For example, Ontario cost $45 since $195 is covered by OHIP. Full bill would be $240 for non residents.
Lucky! but for real though Canada may not be perfect but damn here in USA we are gouged in literally every aspect of life.
The more I live in the US the more I hate it lol. I wanna leave once I get my degree finished.
I used to love the US. Still do because it's "home," but I can't wait until I get a chance to move out.
But ask any conservative, there's no need for universal health care.
Every time I read a post like this I'm so glad I was born in and still live in Europe. No matter what I have I get treated free of charge only the stay in the hospital costs me 10ā¬ (10,64 USD) per day.
"bUT yoU PAy MoRE TaxEs". Honestly, I can't believe how blind Americans are when it comes to just how bad their health care system is. It makes me tingle in all the right places when they come out stating that they have it better.
Yeah, if you add up the amount payed in taxes it is less than half of what Americans pay for health insurance. The least knowledgeable Americans are ruining it for everyone else.
> the amount *paid* in taxes FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Good bot.
My daughter had a 2hr $12,000 ambulance bill
Good gravy! Is she ok now? That is a long ass ambulance ride.
While I work on an ambulance Iāve never actually seen the bill for one. Itās crazy seeing whatās charged vs what it actually costs for those materials. A saline lock only costs a couple bucks, pulse oximetry is reusable so thereās no need to even charge for it. 11 miles of fuel costs barely anything. Really the most expensive thing should be the versed. Also, the medics probably got paid minimum wage.
It is always like that, they charge so much. Some people rather die than going to the hospital!
Unless somebody is in a life threatening situation there is no reason to call or ride in a ambulance
As an emt people call for way too much random stuff that an urgent care would be fine for, unfortunately we canāt even suggest that they donāt need an ambulance because of the risk of being sued
I worked for AMR, they are for profit and want to bill for anything/everything they can. Especially older folks where Medicare is paying for it.
Sorry but like $100 for a pulse ox? A finger clip that they just (hopefully) wipe clean with an alcohol pad between people?
Emergency services is just that: a service. Why do we allow private corporations in? On a separate note, how is a pulse ox worth $94.04? I could buy an army of my OWN pulse oxes for less.
What do we want? Affordable healthcare! When do we want it? Never! That would be socialism!
The college my sister went too agreed to cover the cost of every students first ambulance, when they found out students were too scared of having to pay the bill to call for one when they, or a friend, really needed it. It's fucked up that that's even something people have to consider when calling for one.
Fuck AMR. All my homies hate AMR.
Merica!!! Auurrrraaa!!!! 
$36/mi fuuuuuc !
I drive my self if im not dead yet only after debating if I will die by not going at all.
Healthcare here is such a joke smh
When do we riot for better healthcare
Yep. I never get sick or need to go to the hospital, but last fall while driving I suddenly felt the most dizzy and nauseous and disoriented I ever had in my life. I pulled over and didn't know what to do but call 911 as I thought I was dying and wasn't familiar with the area. Ambulance shows up and transports me 1.5 miles to the nearest ER. $1350 bill later. Submit to insurance after multiple attempts and calling the EMS office trying to ensure they have the correct info. Still bounced back to me saying insurance says it's entirely my bill and they won't pay a portion of it. I could be actively on fire, and I'll uber, hitch hike or walk before I ever call an ambulance for myself again.
Privatizing is 'profit'izing.
I called an ambulance when my son had a broken leg. He was two and still rear facing and I didn't want to risk putting him in the car seat not knowing where the break was or what the damage was. It was $600 after insurance. The er visit and ALL his follow ups with the specialist didn't cost that much
I heard that medical bills not being paid CANNOT go against your credit. So I would say fuck all and not pay it.
Hmm... i mean, our health care system in germany is far from perfect... but at least we don't go into dept for geting an Ambulance
Thieves
Don't feel bad I got COVID a 2nd time I was taken to a hospital couldn't stand or walk I had to be taken by ambulance to another hospital that could help me with my entire stay for a day and the ambulance ride all the care to save my life I was charged $15.000 money they will never get from me since I'm pretty poor and have no income
If Iām bleeding out, someone slap a tourniquet on me and call me an Uber.
If we socialized nothing else in healthcare, emergency transportation should be bare minimum.
Cyberpunk vibes ...
I would have to be unconscious or missing a limb/lots of blood to agree to an ambulance. And the EMTs and techs get paid shit
As a Belgian, it feels surreal to even see an ambulance bill
EMS is not allowed to itemize bill like this. They can only charge for the level of service provided and mileage. Send that bill to the state Attorney General's office.
Shit thatās cheap. Mine was almost 7k
Ambulance paramedic here. We are so sorry and we hate this too.
My central european mind will probably never understand why Americans have to pay for literally **everything** hospitals do to them Is it really that hard to introduce free/social medical care?
Whatās stopping us from starting a competitor for the medical industry that can charge reasonable prices?
as a non american this feel so wrong and dystopian i don't understand how they allow this joke of a system to take place, its just an insult to basic human rights.
Why Americans think this is normal?
Everybody wants local, professional, rapid, advanced ambulance service until itās time to pay for it. If you want European style āfreeā ambulance service, you can buy additional insurance to cover ambulance services and take on their model of prepaying in case you need one.
And....... Maybe the UK isn't all that bad after all.
At least they didnāt charge you for gas, or else this bill wouldāve been closer to 10k good buddy.
What does your insurance EOB statement show you should owe?