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Cities with Uber Have Lower Rates of Ambulance Usage

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Re: Cities with Uber Have Lower Rates of Ambulance Usage

#221

Post by peg_leg »

dantheman wrote: post #153
blhack wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is pretty much nothing that infuriates me more than the health insurance system. Here is just one example (other than your ambulance example, which is like some trolley-car problem come real): We use "insurance" for routine medical examinations which are supposedly to be done regardless of health. We use "insurance" for YEARLY checkups. The absurdity of this is on par with insuring yourself against getting hung…

The health insurance system in the US is about as far away as you can get from capitalism. It's heavily regulated, a cartel, the prices are not transparent, and there is no competition (existing hospitals have to approve new hospitals, etc).

I believe the distinction should be made between laissez-faire and crony capitalism. The sytsem is as far as you can get from laissez-faire and completely crony

Re: Cities with Uber Have Lower Rates of Ambulance Usage

#222

Post by Dove »

throwaway0255 wrote: post #48

I injured myself and needed to go to the ER. The injury wasn't life threatening, but I definitely needed to go to the hospital immediately. I called an Uber. I don't have the time or expertise to do the months of legalese and calculus it would take me to understand my insurance policy, so I have no idea how much an ambulance ride would have cost me. $0? $400? $15000? None of those numbers would surprise me. As best I…

If it's not life-threatening, don't go to the ER. Go to urgent care. They'll charge you $100-$200 for the visit, plus cost of materials. $27 X-Ray kind of cost of materials in my experience.

https://www.howmuchisit.org/how-much-does-urgent-care-cost/

Better yet, get direct primary care. It's ideal for tylenol and ace bandage situations.

I am completely convinced that even if you have insurance, you are much better off acting as a self-pay patient. Your options are better, and you have a much better idea of how much things cost. People say you can't shop for a hospital in an emergency, and that's true -- but I already know how much the hospitals around here cost and how good they are because I have to for routine medical care.

Re: Cities with Uber Have Lower Rates of Ambulance Usage

#223

Post by qaq »

saas_co_de wrote: post #201
k__ wrote: post #131

Medical stories from the US always sound like from third world countries to me...

Yeah, most people don't tell the stories about how they go to luxuriously built hospitals that make most corporate offices and hotels seem cheap by comparison, with parking lots full of BMW's, Mercedes, and other 6-figure foreign cars, and are treated by teams of highly paid people using millions of dollars of the best equipment in the world ... As long as you have money the US is great.

"As long as you have money the US is great" even if you have money you will still have to go to the local hospital for emergency and will have to wait for specialist appointment some stupid amount of time unless you actively spend time and money donating to the hospital some serious $ so you have direct numbers of people in charge etc.

Re: Cities with Uber Have Lower Rates of Ambulance Usage

#224

Post by zappo2938 »

Dove wrote: post #222
throwaway0255 wrote: post #48

I injured myself and needed to go to the ER. The injury wasn't life threatening, but I definitely needed to go to the hospital immediately. I called an Uber. I don't have the time or expertise to do the months of legalese and calculus it would take me to understand my insurance policy, so I have no idea how much an ambulance ride would have cost me. $0? $400? $15000? None of those numbers would surprise me. As best I…

If it's not life-threatening, don't go to the ER. Go to urgent care. They'll charge you $100-$200 for the visit, plus cost of materials. $27 X-Ray kind of cost of materials in my experience. https://www.howmuchisit.org/how-much-does-urgent-care-cost/ Better yet, get direct primary care. It's ideal for tylenol and ace bandage situations. I am completely convinced that even if you have insurance, you are much better of…

Between the hours of 10 to 10.

Re: Cities with Uber Have Lower Rates of Ambulance Usage

#225

Post by lazulicurio »

nvahalik wrote: post #50
throwaway0255 wrote: post #48

I injured myself and needed to go to the ER. The injury wasn't life threatening, but I definitely needed to go to the hospital immediately. I called an Uber. I don't have the time or expertise to do the months of legalese and calculus it would take me to understand my insurance policy, so I have no idea how much an ambulance ride would have cost me. $0? $400? $15000? None of those numbers would surprise me. As best I…

The system works fairly well if you are poor too. I know several people who have walked into and out of the hospital without paying a dime. It really seems like the middle class gets the raw end of the deal.

This to me is the biggest issue with health insurance in the US right now---it's effectively trying to cover two issues at once: 1) non-payment to health care providers 2) unexpected ailments to health care consumers. We have insurance companies as the middlemen, trying to make money from both ends. It's like having the same lawyer as prosecutor and defense attorney; no matter how much you trust any individual to do a good job, you're asking for trouble in the long run.

I feel like the best solution would be to change the arrangement from consumerinsuranceprovider to insuranceconsumerproviderinsurance. Have providers charge consumers directly (so prices are more transparent), consumers buy actual "health insurance", and providers buy non-payment insurance. If the government needs to subsidize non-payment insurance rates for certain providers, it can do so without as much risk for inflating prices and screwing over people who can pay the bills.

Re: Cities with Uber Have Lower Rates of Ambulance Usage

#226

Post by heisenbit »

> Researchers often cite costly transportation as a significant barrier to receiving quality healthcare. A study by Samina T. Syed and Lisa K. Sharp, doctors at the Kalamazoo College, suggests that cost-efficient access to a vehicle is consistently associated with increased access to health care.

Uber is using venture capital to subsidize rides. Drivers are often providing the services by going underpaid and putting up their own capital without getting the appropriate rent.

This is not a sustainable model. If there is a real need that is currently not met it has to be provided through other means in the long run.

Re: Cities with Uber Have Lower Rates of Ambulance Usage

#227

Post by Symbiote »

walshemj wrote: post #217
djsumdog wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, not if you need treatment. If you're poor, yes you won't pay anything because the hospital won't bother to bill anyone. But if you need surgery and have no insurance or medicade, there are cases of doctors sending you home, waiting for sepsis and then amputating, because it's cheaper and takes less resources. Extremely poor people may not pay for care, but be assured that in America, they get no where near the…

ROTLF my yearly season ticket 65 miles to London is £4,688.00

Which scales fine, with the 65 mile Uber ride costing you closer to £100.

Re: Cities with Uber Have Lower Rates of Ambulance Usage

#228

Post by walshemj »

DanBC wrote: post #210
kelnos wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention that there are consequences if an Uber/Lyft driver blows off a confirmed ride, and even if they do, you can request another one immediately. In the case of taxi dispatch, a car may never show up, and you won't know until you get tired of waiting, and there are no consequences for the taxi company or driver if they do this. Pre-Uber, in SF, the normal quoted wait from a taxi dispatcher was on the order…

> In the case of taxi dispatch, a car may never show up, and you won't know until you get tired of waiting, and there are no consequences for the taxi company or driver if they do this. depends on the country and the taxi company. England has a reasonably effective regulatory regime for taxis and cabs.

And for patient transport the NHS does use private drivers

Re: Cities with Uber Have Lower Rates of Ambulance Usage

#229

Post by paulie_a »

dazc wrote: post #150
jopsen wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Free ambulances are always going to come with the problem of abuse, followed by a reluctance to send an ambulance. Resulting in news stories of how some people call of help and don't get any. But these stories are rare, it's seem better than letting poor people die. This said, we probably should add a tiny ambulance fee ($50), and apply a fine for inappropriate use.

'This said, we probably should add a tiny ambulance fee ($50), and apply a fine for inappropriate use.' I agree although reclaiming this fee from those who abuse the system is likely to prove difficult? I can remember a time in the UK when ambulance and, IIRC, fire service would bill you after the event for attendance. Not sure if this was every case or just where they deemed it appropriate? But, I do remember, it wa…

The fire department has started billing farmers in my area for burning their fields on high wind days

Re: Cities with Uber Have Lower Rates of Ambulance Usage

#230

Post by walshemj »

Spooky23 wrote: post #10

I’d be more interested to see the reduction in medicab or medivan usage. My father had the misfortune of having a stroke, and transporting him via van is outrageous — you’re talking >$250 for a 15 mile drive, in what amounts to a cargo van with zero service beyond driving. It’s one of those weird markets where the pricing is driven by the Medicaid reimbursement, which is a price floor.

An ambulance is a van and actually not very comfortable to travel in speaking from experience
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