Anxiously awaiting all of the "this is good, akshually" posts while ten more people file for bankruptcy because they took an ill-timed ambulance ride to the ER.
Ambulances are either free (if part of a low annual fee Ambulance cover network) or capped at affordable, or subsidised if unemployed | disability | etc.
In Australia my brothers trip to hospital for an emergancy stent following a blocked heart artery involved an ambulance, two and days in hospital, and keyhole surgery.
Total cost to him, $400 for ambulance due to no cover, hospital + surgery free via public cover (from his taxes).
[edit to add this]
I did hear on the radio that a bill was passed in California recently to help fix this to some extent but I don’t recall the details. I believe it goes into effect mid-2024.
$7K USD for ambulance in US? I thought the OP "while ten more people file for bankruptcy because they took an ill-timed ambulance ride to the ER." was being sarcastic.
And below it wrote ambulance with insurance only cost few hundred. So in US without insurance equals waiting to die or bankrupt?
Wasn't there a thing about Obamacare a while ago? I mean That was the first time for many NON-US Citizen to know US doesn't have Universal Health Care system. ( Which a lot of us take for granted )
My family’s most expensive ambulance bill before insurance was $6k, but that was intensive care transport for our newborn. I believe we paid $250 out of pocket for that.
It’s true that having to pay anything out of pocket affects when people call for ambulances.
Also, keep in mind high car ownership rates mean most people drive or are driven to the ER. Ambulances are typically only used when there was on-scene medical care provided, that continues on the way to the hospital, or when transporting a patient between facilities. A minority of Americans use ambulances because they don’t have personal transportation.
Here’s one: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/16ixoc8/i_...
And another which links to the California Assembly Bill to try to prevent this: https://calmatters.org/health/2023/12/surprise-ambulance-bil...
I didn’t receive any notice of the bill until nine months later and was told it would go to collections in 30 days. My insurance company decided to reconsider whether they would pay anything after I called them, and they told AMR they would review the case which put the clock for collections on hold for about six weeks until the insurance coughed up $3k or so.
People with huge bills before insurance are either receiving advanced care (like my infant daughter) or being transported long distances.
CMS has negotiated average basic transport down to a few hundred. I’d like to see this proliferated. Dispatching keeps ambulances from refusing service in the way CMS pricing dries up proactive care availability.
Certainly share your pain dealing with medical bills and receiving them after they’re overdue. I’m good at it but I know most aren’t, and they come at an overwhelming time. Also, many ambulance companies use crappy overbooked billing call centers so it’s hard to talk to someone. Reforming medical communication is part of the whole solution.
Thank You. While not perfect may be sanity is still a thing in the US.
Also that's just for the ride. If they need to stabilize you in any way it's going to increase drastically.
When my ex-wife was pregnant with our first child she caught valley fever and we went to the emergency room.
While there a tatted-up tough as nails gang-banger came in cradling his elderly dad in his arms. He was crying hysterically that his father was having a heart attack and please help.
The lady at the front desk tossed a clipboard at him and told him to fill it out and have a seat.
His father was turning blue. He cried please help he's dying and her response was he should have taken an ambulance.
He replied his dad didnt want to cuz he cant afford it. While crying while holding his dying father.
An EMT was coming out from just having dropped someone off. He heard all this go down and told the guy to call 911. He did while the EMT took his father and placed him on the gurney to wheel him outside.
He then turned around and came right back in, past the receptionist screaming at him and wheeled dude's father to the back while ignoring her.
This same hospital that night told my 7 months pregnant wife with coughing fits and lesions on her legs to go home they dont have a treatment for valley fever and tried to charge us for an overnight stay and stabilization.
Fuck the healthcare system in the US it's completely insane.
I have way too many horror stories I've experienced personally to ever have faith in it.
But they're required to provide emergency services even to people without insurance, and the cost isn't set in stone. It can be reduced (happened to a family member, he called and asked and I think he said they just did it even without proof) or "financial assistance provided" (says this right on a recent one I have).
Haggling isn't really much of a thing here so I'd guess most people don't know those are options, or if they do are embarrassed to let people know they have financial troubles.
That’s a major asterisk. People usually lob this complaint with the context of not having any insurance or somehow their insurance not covering the particular ambulance. Your story does not disprove the others.