4 ms·

I know your post is incorrect, because there is no good timing for an ambulance ride. It will always bankrupt you.

defrost 3y ago
In G20 countries other than the USofA with <gasp> social policies this is not the case. 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).
speff 3y ago
Wife had to get an ambulance ride a few years ago in the US. She was apprehensive of getting it because this - wrong - information is repeated over and over online. It and the hospital trip cost a few hundred with insurance. This is why we don't listen to people on the internet.
- subharmonicon 3y ago
  Sounds like pure luck. My ambulance was “out of network” (as if I had any choice in the matter) and the charges were “unreasonable” for the services provided per the insurance company. They initially billed me for $7k. I eventually got the insurance to pay $3k of that. So $4k out of pocket. [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.
  - ksec 3y ago
    Excuse me. $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 )
    - 1123581321 3y ago
      $7k doesn’t sound right. If you were to pay cash (no insurance) for a bog standard ambulance ride, it would typically be several hundred. And likely written off, but that’s beside the point. 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.
      - subharmonicon 3y ago
        Search “American Medical Response” and terms like “thousands” and you’ll find story after story of 4-5k bills, some of those from 7+ years ago. Here’s one: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/16ixoc8/i_was_just_hit_with_a_4000_ambulance_bill_from 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-bills-new-california-laws-2024/ 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.
        1123581321 3y ago
        There is studied pricing data available. For example, Fair, an organization working against surprise bills, tells us average pricing by charge code. Before insurance, basic transport averages under a thousand. Mileage and cost of living accounts for the variation. 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.
  - reducesuffering 3y ago
    What’s even sadder is those EMTs are getting paid $15/hr in the Bay Area to do 24 hour shifts ffs
- latexr 3y ago
  > It and the hospital trip cost a few hundred with insurance. 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.
  - speff 3y ago
    At least I disclosed my asterisk. When was the last time you read about someone getting a huge bill who also said “btw I don’t have insurance”? Every time it’s just - Don’t take the ambulance or you’ll go bankrupt. And then you have people who aren’t in their right mind endangering themselves because honest discourse on the internet is dead.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
- elevatedastalt 3y ago
  A lot of ambulance companies are out of network. I am happy to relay countless horror stories.
shiroiushi 3y ago
Only in America. Here in Japan, ambulance rides are free.

In G20 countries other than the USofA with <gasp> social policies this is not the case. 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).

speff 3y ago

Wife had to get an ambulance ride a few years ago in the US. She was apprehensive of getting it because this - wrong - information is repeated over and over online. It and the hospital trip cost a few hundred with insurance. This is why we don't listen to people on the internet.

subharmonicon 3y ago
Sounds like pure luck. My ambulance was “out of network” (as if I had any choice in the matter) and the charges were “unreasonable” for the services provided per the insurance company. They initially billed me for $7k. I eventually got the insurance to pay $3k of that. So $4k out of pocket. [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.
- ksec 3y ago
  Excuse me. $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 )
  - 1123581321 3y ago
    $7k doesn’t sound right. If you were to pay cash (no insurance) for a bog standard ambulance ride, it would typically be several hundred. And likely written off, but that’s beside the point. 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.
    - subharmonicon 3y ago
      Search “American Medical Response” and terms like “thousands” and you’ll find story after story of 4-5k bills, some of those from 7+ years ago. Here’s one: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/16ixoc8/i_was_just_hit_with_a_4000_ambulance_bill_from 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-bills-new-california-laws-2024/ 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.
      - 1123581321 3y ago
        There is studied pricing data available. For example, Fair, an organization working against surprise bills, tells us average pricing by charge code. Before insurance, basic transport averages under a thousand. Mileage and cost of living accounts for the variation. 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.
- reducesuffering 3y ago
  What’s even sadder is those EMTs are getting paid $15/hr in the Bay Area to do 24 hour shifts ffs
latexr 3y ago
> It and the hospital trip cost a few hundred with insurance. 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.
- speff 3y ago
  At least I disclosed my asterisk. When was the last time you read about someone getting a huge bill who also said “btw I don’t have insurance”? Every time it’s just - Don’t take the ambulance or you’ll go bankrupt. And then you have people who aren’t in their right mind endangering themselves because honest discourse on the internet is dead.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
elevatedastalt 3y ago
A lot of ambulance companies are out of network. I am happy to relay countless horror stories.

shiroiushi 3y ago

Only in America. Here in Japan, ambulance rides are free.