An ambulance driver confided to me that a lot of people refuse the ride due to fear of the cost

[Godhumor]

I was in the front seat chatting with him as we raced from one hospital to another (everything is fine, don't worry). We were told at the first hospital to take an ambulance to the second to receive priority in being seen at the other's ER. So we listened, had the ambulance sent, and off we went.

While travelling, I struck up a conversation with the driver, primarily trying to keep my worry and fear at bay, and asked about the ER prioritizing. He told me that it is normal--that someone arriving in an ambulance will always be placed ahead of someone who comes in either under his or her own power or driven by someone else. He then told me that many times when an ambulance is disperse, people will turn it away--even knowing it means a longer wait at the hospital. For many, rides aren't covered by insurance, if they have any at all.

About 10 days later I received the bill from Rural/Metro ambulance services. They sent it with the caveat that if I have insurance, call them and they will help file a claim. However, the bill was due, in full, once received. The 15 minute ambulance ride from 1 hospital to the next came in at just under $1,400 dollars. I am lucky enough that my son's insurance will cover most of it, but I can see how people are put into a position of considering money to health or faster access to doctors.

I don't really have a pithee ending to this. That night was the scariest in my entire life, and I would have done absolutely anything to keep mine own safe. I can't imagine, literally can't, having to make a choice between an ambulance ride and faster care or an ER waiting room and no multi-thousand dollar ambulance bill. It just sucks.

[aSpeckofDust]

1. Last time I checked, it was around 500 bucks in florida, no matter how short the distance is.

[valerief]

2. America, the best country in the whole world. For fascist pigs! Hope you're well. nt

[ProfessionalLeftist]

3. My aunt did that...

...neighbor drove her. She won't use an ambulance.

[geckosfeet]

4. Like it's a big freaking secret. That's why people put off getting needed health care and

dental care too. It costs too damn much.

Single payer.

Now.

For humanities sake.

[Godhumor]

6. I always knew it was expensive, I never thought it was a have/have not situations for access to care

Having an ER doctor tell me take the ambulance ride, your son will be seen immediately makes it very much a first class/second class thing.

[geckosfeet]

13. Sure does. They like to spread the wealth around.

[GreenPartyVoter]

14. +1,000,000

[SoCalDem]

5. My friend was bleeding out after amputation surgery and had his girlfriend drive him

rather than call an ambulance.. for that same reason.. She wrapped his leg in towels and drove him to the hospital..

[Deep13]

7. No kidding.

I wouldn't mind the E-room wait. It's surviving the car ride or being able to get there at all that would worry me.

[tblue37]

8. I had a stroke in 2005. It was summertime, so no one I knew was around, since

this is a college town and everyone was on vacation, including all my neighbors. I had no money on me--not a cent--for a cab, and even though I have decent insurance, and ambulance involves a co-pay of a few hundred dollars. At the time I was earning $17,000/year, so I couldn't handle such a bill. I called around (not easy, since my right arm was floppy and my speech was slurred, until I finally reached a friend in KC, Kansas. He left work and raced 40 minutes to reach me and take me to the emergency room. Bu the time I got there, it had been well over 2 hours since the stroke. Fortunately, I made a near total recover. I still have a bit of residual weakness on the right side, but I worked myself half to death to regain strength and control.


But I am still angry and frustrated that even with "good" insurance (through the state, since I am adjunct faculty at a state unversity), I could not afford to call an ambulance! I am just lucky that the long-term damage wasn't more severe.

[Godhumor]

12. Glad you recovered. I can't imagine what that day was like n/t

[arikara]

39. That is a horrible story

I'm so sorry that you had to go through that and glad you recovered so well. What an awful system you have, and to think that our PM Harper would love to do that to the medical system here in Canada. I don't know about other provinces, but the last time the Mr took an ambulance ride it was significantly less than $100 and we live nearly 20 miles from the hospital. Paramedics are provincial employees and make a decent salary too.

[jdlh8894]

9. You are being transported from 1 hospital to another-

by ambulance,and you are in the FRONT seat carrying on a conversation?
What gives???

[Godhumor]

10. I was the ride along. The ambulance was for my son who was in back with the EMT and my wife n/t

[jdlh8894]

15. Sorry, my misunderstanding. Hope son is OK

[Godhumor]

17. He is. No worries. n/t

[Loudmxr]

11. Yup. I pay $4 a month for a free ride when I need it for my household. Its astronomical without it.

[iscooterliberally]

16. I had an ambulance ride in 2008.

My bill was around $500. I had insurance, but there were so many bills involved that I could not keep track of everything. Sometimes the insurance would pay the bill directly. Other times they sent me the check. I was in the hospital for about 5 days, and that bill alone was $65K. My insurance sent me the check to pay for the ambulance ride, but it was not clear to me and I paid one of the other doctor's bills. The city came to me for the money and I was broke at that point. They allowed me to make small payments. $20 here, and $20 there. I had a good $$ month a little while back and sent them a check for $200. If you are broke and you are in a situation where you think you might need an ambulance, or are offered one, you should take it. Even if you don't have insurance. It's better to be alive and in debt, than dead, or permanantly screwed up because you didn't go for it. Think of the ones that you love, and realize that they feel that way about you too. It sucks to have to make the choice, but I think you should take that ride.

[spinbaby]

18. If you think that's high...

Wait until you see prices for helicopter transport. My husband had to be transported by helicopter some 15 years ago and it cost in the neighborhood of $18,000. The ambulance that took him the 500 yards from the accident scene to the helicopter cost several hundred. Fortunately we had good insurance at the time so it didn't cost us anything. With the insurance we have today, it would have cost us several thousand.

[Godhumor]

19. I can't contemplate what an air lift would cost.

I've heard way too many stories about people who've lost everything to keep a loved one, or themselves, healthy. It sounds like when it happened, things worked out for you and yours--I'm glad to hear it.

[enlightenment]

22. About eight years ago my father was transported by

private jet from a small regional hospital in Parker, AZ to a major hospital in Phoenix, because the helicopter apparently wouldn't have been fast enough (or something - can't really recall the rationale). He had suffered cardiac arrest, was shocked back to life by a fortunately passing by Highway Patrol officer who was carrying the ONLY portable defibrillator in the county (dad collapsed while taking a walk), and transported to the little hospital by ambulance.

The cost of the 12 mile ambulance ride was around a $1,000; the cost of the jet was $22,000 and change. The officer who saved his life got a commendation (and gratitude from us), but wasn't paid a penny more.

[Godhumor]

23. Glad he made it. Glad the officer happened to be there

Cost sounds nuts, but I am very happy your father got the help from the officer on up that he needed.

[enlightenment]

24. We were all beyond gratitude for that wonderful man.

He had just learned how to use the device and didn't even have anyone with him to offer moral support as he used it for the first time on a human being. He's my hero, for sure.

The cost of the transport? Ridiculous - and I have to wonder where dad would be if he hadn't been fully insured (retired AF/Tricare/etc). I have to assume he wouldn't have made it, since the small hospital was clearly unequipped to deal with his condition.

I am not insured (cost, naturally) and understand what a tightrope walk it is; I'm just glad my dad is covered.

[JDPriestly]

20. And they want seniors, many of whom no longer have drivers'

licenses, to accept vouchers for Medicare for what was it? $8000 per year.

I had to take an ambulance to a nearby hospital just last fall. The bill was horrendous. Never again.

Get a neighbor to drive you next time.

[Warpy]

21. The point of the ambulance is that care is started inside it

I've always been amazed at a paramedic's ability to start an IV line in a lurching ambulance. Monitors are applied and information is collected and assessed. Doctors at the ER are contacted if other treatment is needed en route.

Paramedics are also the most underpaid health professionals. Most of the cost is generated by the rig itself, the equipment within it, and the expensive drugs and other stock that has to be ready at all times.

But yes, there have been times I've called a cab when I clearly needed to be in an ambulance, apologizing to the cabbie en route and tipping well.

[octothorpe]

33. I read that EMTs are usually underpaid.

I was surprised to hear that some make less than $12/hr. I always figured they made at least $15 or $16/hr starting out in the entry-level position.

It's a shame, considering how much an ambulance ride costs.

[nichomachus]

38. This is exactly the point

I'm a former EMT. Depending on the emergency, driving yourself or having someone drive you to the hospital is dangerous. For a cut or a broken limb, not so bad. For chest pains, serious wounds, or a possible stroke, you're playing with fire.

If the person were to pass out or go into cardiac arrest on the way, what would you do? You'd end up calling 9-1-1 anyway. I responded more than once to a car by the side of the road, where they were trying to get to the ER and didn't make it. And, if you do make it to the hospital and the patient is unconscious in the car in the parking lot, they're not going to come out and get him or her. They will tell you to call 9-1-1. When you call the ambulance, it's like having the ER in your driveway. Almost anything they can do in the ER they can do inside the ambulance to stabilize the patient.

Having said that, the cost of medical care and gouging by the medical industrial complex is forcing people to make some very difficult and unacceptable choices. Universal, single payer health care is the only answer.

P.S. Re: starting IVs in lurching ambulances. I was a genius at that. I could start an IV in an eyeblink in a speeding, lurching ambulance or under seriously adverse conditions -- like on a person inside a crushed car, while the firefighters were tearing it apart with the jaws of life. Under quiet, calm, well-lit, dry conditions like in the ER, I was all thumbs and had a devil of a time. Go figure.,

[PsychGrad]

25. I have refused ambulance rides for this very reason...

I have an auto-immune disorder and find myself in the ER approximately 5 times a year due to the disorder. I had to leave my job in December of last year as a counselor, ethical concerns that put my licensure in jeopardy. So, no health insurance. Since I have pre-existing conditions, independent health insurance companies will not insure me. I have needed to go to the ER several times, and have actually not gone, and tried home stuff, which helps a little, but isn't nearly as effective as the tools they have at the ER. I currently owe 2000$ for one visit to the ER a few months ago. If the ambulance comes to your house here, they charge you 100$ do drive half a mile to my house and check me out. They always suggest I go to the ER but I refuse because I cannot afford the ambulance ride (approximately 600$ for the ride only, if they use anything or assist me in any way, that price quickly goes up), and I certainly can't afford the ER visit. It's insanity. I have worked since I was 13 years old, am now 36, have never collected unemployment or food stamps, and was turned down for unemployment. I do get food stamps now, thankfully, as I'm not sure how I would eat if I wasn't. Thankfully, I do not have children, but am in danger of not being able to pay my mortgage and bills. My situation will change drastically once I start getting paid in private practice (which I've been doing since January, pro-bono), but this experience has really allowed me to truly experience the difficulties of the poverty stricken. I've never been rich, but this is the poorest I've ever been, and people who think it's easy to just go out and get a hand out (pride aside) are greatly misinformed.

On another note, I had a friend visiting from England once, and he had to call the ambulance for me (stupid auto-immune disorder! lol) and he was appalled at the service I received. They asked for my insurance card before they began treating me, despite the fact that I was having severe difficulty breathing, and he had to get it for them. He tells that story to everyone he knows because the difference between the ambulance service he had received in England and what he saw happen here was to him, completely unacceptable.

Sorry to go on so long, but this is an issue that really gets under my skin. I believe that we should all have access to reasonably priced health care... and it frustrates me when people want to stop that from happening, and then complain when people can't work because they are too ill!!!!!

[Spider Jerusalem]

26. By way of comparison:

I'm in the UK; my wife is British, and I moved here a little over two years ago. After I'd been in the UK for several months, and whilst still on my initial six-month visitor visa, I woke up one day with a migraine. I was puking sick and not well at all; my then-fiancee was quite worried and rang up the NHS hotline despite my saying "just a migraine, had them before, I just need to let it pass", and they said "well. Sick, and a severe headache? It MIGHT BE meningitis." So I ended up going to the hospital in an ambulance. Didn't want to, having had experience of American healthcare. But she insisted. Ambulance ride, saw a doctor, who agreed that yes it seemed to be migraine and here, have some codeine. Total cost: nothing. (Emergency treatment is free even for non-UK residents.)

[14thColony]

31. Very similar experience

But with my sister who was visiting me in the UK and suddenly came down with kidney stones. She was in agony. Call 999, ambulance was there in no time, she was admitted, spent two nights in hospital while they sorted things out, to include IV antibiotics and a couple of ultrasound scans to make sure everything was taken care of. Total bill: 0.

Still trying to figure out how "socialized medicine" is such a horrible thing.

[renate]

27. It is disgusting and shameful that in this country people have to gamble with their lives

If I heard that there was a country somewhere in which people with no medical training had to weigh the risk of losing their lives, or their spouses' lives or their children's lives, against the risk of a devastating medical bill... I would think it was barbaric.

Well, it IS barbaric. It's just incredible that in a country like this, with all its resources and misplaced priorities, people have to roll the dice like that each and every day. It's... well, I hate to say it :sarcasm:, but it's kind of as if insurance lobbyists weren't on our side or something.

[orleans]

28. i called my daughter to take me

it took her over two hours to get here.

i needed a transfusion and was in ic for four days.

i have no insurance. and no public aid (tho i'd definitely qualify for it)

[Raine]

29. You have to watch the bills carefully. We had to call an ambulance for my

father (the last trip to the hospital before his death) and happened to take note of what company picked him up. We got a bill from them which was to be expected but we got another bill from a different ambulance company. This second company must have heard the call and thought that us being under so much emotional stress wouldn't know which company had actually taken him to the hospital. They thought that we would go ahead and OK payment to them. NO WAY ... we let them know that we KNEW they were not the ones that had come. Fucking crooks all over the place just waiting to take advantage of emotionally distraught people, they make me sick! :grr:

[Art_from_Ark]

30. In Japan, ambulance rides are usually free

since ambulance drivers and paramedics are considered public employees and are therefore prohibited from charging for their services.

[Maeve]

34. Some cities here also pay for ambulances

When I thought I was having a heart attack a couple years back (turned out to be gall stones), we called the squad. We got a bill, but I found out that they would accept anything our insurance paid AND waive any unpaid amount since we were residents/taxpayers.

[Bonobo]

35. Damn straight. Listen to this story:

A couple of months ago, my youngest son slipped off the shrine's steps and cut his scalp. The doctor said he should go to a hospital and we live on a little island.

So a special ambulance boat took us right away. It is about 14 miles to the mainland and the trip costs about 10 dollars one way normally for a boat ticket.

We were attended by 3 emergency personnel. We got picked up at the harbor by an ambulance who took us to the hospital.

At the hospital, within 45 min, we were in an office looking at the CSCAN and X-ray images on a computer with the doctor.

All was fine, it was just a bump with a scalp cut that bled a fair bit. No stitches even.

Total cost was about 20 dollars.

In America? With X-Rays, CSCAN, an ambulance and an ambulance boat? I'm sure it would have been in the thousands.

Nice way to lose your house if you don't have savings and have to struggle to make it month to month.

Nice country. But at least you're all safe thanks to the War on Terror!

[babydollhead]

32. In 1948, they didn't have $20 to pay so my grandfather died

the ambulance would have been 20.00 My dad was 16 he and his mom and siblings watched him die of a heart attack because they knew they could not afford the ambulance. That was before CPR was known. He was only 50, with a house full of 5 teenagers and a fragile wife who lost her mind afterward.

[Saphire]

36. My son was stabbed, and someone called the police and an ambulance.

we refused the ambulance (the injury was not as bad as it seemed) and took him to the hospital ourselves. We were still billed $200.00 for the ambulance.

Also paid $1500.00 to the hospital.

The young man who stabbed him???? Nothing.

[JBoy]

37. Even in single-payer BC, ambulance rides are subsidized but not covered.

Costs a BC resident $80. Most employer-sponsored extended health plans cover these costs.

[area51]

40. What we need is

single-payer. Now.

[octothorpe]

41. How does this all work anyway? Around my town I see the medstar ambulances

which appears to be a private company out to make a profit (correct?). I also see the city fire department ambulances too. Who decides which one gets dispatched? Do the fire department ones charge too? Do they charge the same? I did a quick search on google and didn't see much yet.

[Patiod]

42. Stroke or heart attack: PAY THE MONEY

If you're having a heart attack or stroke, there are things they will do IN THE AMBULANCE that can save your life/save your brain.

I'm uninsured, so I know how tough it is. My SO had a fever a few years back, and his sister the nurse said "call an ambulance". I asked what the ambulance/hospital would do for him, and she said "ice packs". I asked if he would get an IV, and she said no, so we did anti-inflammatories and our own ice packs, and he was okay in the morning.

So I'm not some rich person saying "just pay the money". You can figure out how to pay for it if you survive.