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Really sounds like that needs to be changed then. As long as healthcare isn't socialized, you shouldn't have to be stuck with an ambulance bill for a broken foo

Really sounds like that needs to be changed then. As long as healthcare isn't socialized, you shouldn't have to be stuck with an ambulance bill for a broken foot because some outdated regulation says you can't be given an Uber instead.

notyourwork 8y ago
You are missing the point. No ones forcing you to use the ambulance. The point is a medical professional is recommending a ride share instead of calling an ambulance. You can say no my crushes hand will be ok and I’ll take an Uber to avoid a bill but that’s not a medical persons choice it is yours.
untog 8y ago
You are still free to take a taxi. If the medical practitioner says "we are getting you an ambulance" you can refuse and make your own way to the hospital. That is entirely legal. However, the medical practitioner themselves cannot tell you to take an Uber to the hospital. Which is sensible.
- fhbdukfrh 8y ago
  In Canada, home of the often proposed single payer solution to the problems in the US, ambulance services are generally not covered and must be paid directly. You even pay id one gets called for you and you refuse assistance. I gp is rarely going to be in a situation where they need to call an ambulance for a patient; generally it's going to be the organization (like a nursing home) or management/administrator to avoid potential liability
Tyrek 8y ago
I take issue with your seemingly glib dismissal of the transfer of risk to rideshare drivers - Ambulances exist for medical transport, and frankly should be used in most cases, especially in a medical transport setting. The core problem lies with the healthcare system and the pricing of ambulance services, and not necessarily with the decision to use an ambulance per se.
will_brown 8y ago
The law doesn’t say if you have a broken foot you have to take an ambulance to get treated at the ER. State law regulates drivers, medical transport is a subsection and medical transport is further broken down into emergency transportation and non-emergency transportation. What the law says is you can’t just start offering medical transportation services to the public in exchange for money without complying with the law/regulations. Further, as you might imagine doctors are regulated, and if you are treating a patient who needs to be transported to an ER for emergency services, the doctor should understand a Lyft/Uber isn’t the appropriate standard of care and is per se illegal under those facts. The doctor may have had his/her heart in the right place be not calling an abmbulance to reserve that for a hypothetical life/death patient, but it’s hard to argue this isn’t an emergency when your a doctor sending your patient to the ER, at which point emergency medical transportation laws/regulations apply.
- jcrben 8y ago
  If it is state law - and I suspect it is - then the answer is probably even more nuanced.
- fhbdukfrh 8y ago
  I'm in Canada so not covered by the same laws as US states, but a few years back i went to my gp with what he quickly diagnosed as a life-threatening blood clot. He explicitly stated "i don't think we need to call an ambulance but you need to go to ER immediately". He gave me a note for the triage nurse to expedite admitting and i was into the ICU within the hour. My wife drive me by nothing stopped me from using a taxi or ride share. Doctors definitely have a duty of care that must consider emergency transport, but it's be surprised if laws explicitly stated you need to call an ambulance for stable patients that need emergency treatment.

notyourwork 8y ago

You are missing the point. No ones forcing you to use the ambulance. The point is a medical professional is recommending a ride share instead of calling an ambulance. You can say no my crushes hand will be ok and I’ll take an Uber to avoid a bill but that’s not a medical persons choice it is yours.

untog 8y ago

You are still free to take a taxi. If the medical practitioner says "we are getting you an ambulance" you can refuse and make your own way to the hospital. That is entirely legal. However, the medical practitioner themselves cannot tell you to take an Uber to the hospital. Which is sensible.

fhbdukfrh 8y ago
In Canada, home of the often proposed single payer solution to the problems in the US, ambulance services are generally not covered and must be paid directly. You even pay id one gets called for you and you refuse assistance. I gp is rarely going to be in a situation where they need to call an ambulance for a patient; generally it's going to be the organization (like a nursing home) or management/administrator to avoid potential liability

Tyrek 8y ago

I take issue with your seemingly glib dismissal of the transfer of risk to rideshare drivers - Ambulances exist for medical transport, and frankly should be used in most cases, especially in a medical transport setting. The core problem lies with the healthcare system and the pricing of ambulance services, and not necessarily with the decision to use an ambulance per se.

will_brown 8y ago

The law doesn’t say if you have a broken foot you have to take an ambulance to get treated at the ER. State law regulates drivers, medical transport is a subsection and medical transport is further broken down into emergency transportation and non-emergency transportation. What the law says is you can’t just start offering medical transportation services to the public in exchange for money without complying with the law/regulations. Further, as you might imagine doctors are regulated, and if you are treating a patient who needs to be transported to an ER for emergency services, the doctor should understand a Lyft/Uber isn’t the appropriate standard of care and is per se illegal under those facts. The doctor may have had his/her heart in the right place be not calling an abmbulance to reserve that for a hypothetical life/death patient, but it’s hard to argue this isn’t an emergency when your a doctor sending your patient to the ER, at which point emergency medical transportation laws/regulations apply.

jcrben 8y ago
If it is state law - and I suspect it is - then the answer is probably even more nuanced.
fhbdukfrh 8y ago
I'm in Canada so not covered by the same laws as US states, but a few years back i went to my gp with what he quickly diagnosed as a life-threatening blood clot. He explicitly stated "i don't think we need to call an ambulance but you need to go to ER immediately". He gave me a note for the triage nurse to expedite admitting and i was into the ICU within the hour. My wife drive me by nothing stopped me from using a taxi or ride share. Doctors definitely have a duty of care that must consider emergency transport, but it's be surprised if laws explicitly stated you need to call an ambulance for stable patients that need emergency treatment.