It's not capitalism, it's the scores of people abusing the ambulance as a free ride and a quick pass into the ER. I can't tell you how many times we picked up people with "back pain" or just feeling funny. Sometimes they meet us at the door with a packed bag. One kid said he kinda felt funny earlier...4 able bodied adults in the house, 3 cars in the driveway and we have to waste our time to bring him to the hospital.
The frequent flyers, we know their names, we know their addresses, always a false alarm.
Sprained ankle...you don't need an ambulance and full crew for a sprain.
Insurance scammer...minor fender bender and they scream about neck and back pain all the while wildly gesturing and moving about.
The fakers are the worst. Get a call for syncope (fainting), we get there and she forgets English when we ask a question or "passes out". At the ER she does the pass out routine again and the nurse looks at her, does a few things to her and tells up to put her in the waiting room.
If you want to be mad at paying for an ambulance, be mad at the twits who force the ambulances to charge. The trucks aren't free, the fuel isn't free, the maintenance isn't free, the medical supplies aren't free.
EMS is so abused it's sickening. While the rig is tied up with someone who bumped their knee, a choking child is waiting. While we drive you to the hospital because it will look better on the insurance report, a stabbing victim is bleeding out.
You can’t selectively charge people for an ambulance, also no one is dying cause they can’t afford an ambulance, but people do go into debt and get billed for the service whether or not they can afford it.
Are you serious? Yes, people die because they didn't have an ambulance, either because it took them too long to reach help or they tried driving while in distress and wrecked. And it would be completely feasible to only charge (fine) people who abused the system by unnecessarily calling for an ambulance. If someone calls for an ambulance and there isn't an ACTUAL emergency they are fined. Simple
Which is the point. You comment that we can't selectively charge people because some abuse the system. If the reason for the astronomical fees is the abuser, and they are being fined already, why does everyone else still get gauged?
@frangy089 We don't ask if they can afford it before we take them. The people on the ambulance have 1 goal, to keep you alive until you reach a higher level of care. We don't get involved with money, insurance, or fines. If you call for an ambulance we are obligated by law to provide care...even when someone is obviously in no emergency or distress. We are not letting people die because they can't pay and frankly it is hurtful to hear you say that. The EMS personnel who come to your house has no say in anything to do with money. And we take every call seriously. I have never heard of a crew causing harm to anyone due to financial reasons.
That is an important distinction I completely failed to make myself, the problem is the companies that own the Ambulance services, it has jack to do with the men and women who are responsible for saving lives, or trying their damndest, in some of the most intense, highly stressful situations. BIG DIFFERENCE. Thank you @strongsad
As an EMT, I can only give the view from the ambulance crew. The reason that ambulance rides cost money is because we use supplies and a crew which both cost money to supply them. Tax payers get upset when their rates go up to pay for these things because everyone thinks they will never need it. The reason it costs money has nothing to do with people who abuse the system. EMS personnel has no ability to turn down a patient from being transported to a hospital. If you call 911 and want to be brought there, we have to bring you. HOWEVER, it is widely abused. We have a flyer who comes 20 minutes north to see his girlfriend on his bike and then he calls 911 to bring him to the hospital near where he lives and then he decides he doesnt want treatment from the hospital. Another does the same to get drugs from a dealer. You can be charged with abuse of 911 but it is dam near impossible to charge them. It is widely abused. But the main reason there is a cost involved in EMS is because tax...
payers don't want to have their rates increased to pay for these things. They think they won't use it so they don't want to pay for it, which i understand. Most of the time insurance companies will cover it though. Its pretty rare when their insurance wont cover at least most of it. There might be a co pay but it is not usually too high. Its mostly the emergency room visit that costs so much, not the ambulance.
After I was assaulted and raped I had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance with a police officer. I recieved a bill for several thousand dollars (I don't remember the exact amount) about two months or so later. Not even the hospitals bill victims, but some ambulance companies are mercenary as hell. Bare in mind, they'd already been paid by the city because it was a police issue.
The frequent flyers, we know their names, we know their addresses, always a false alarm.
Sprained ankle...you don't need an ambulance and full crew for a sprain.
Insurance scammer...minor fender bender and they scream about neck and back pain all the while wildly gesturing and moving about.
The fakers are the worst. Get a call for syncope (fainting), we get there and she forgets English when we ask a question or "passes out". At the ER she does the pass out routine again and the nurse looks at her, does a few things to her and tells up to put her in the waiting room.
EMS is so abused it's sickening. While the rig is tied up with someone who bumped their knee, a choking child is waiting. While we drive you to the hospital because it will look better on the insurance report, a stabbing victim is bleeding out.
Seriously, calling the cops on myself would have been 1/20th the price.