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Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

davidoks.blog

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Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#11

Post by Waterluvian »

arjie wrote: post #5

You don't have to pay them unless they're specific. I got a bill 3 years after being in an accident and I asked them for the documentation they legally have to provide me (itemization, the legal basis, detailed incident record, attempts on their part to contact insurance) of how they arrived at the sum. It's been a year since and they haven't given me anything. Besides this kind of billing is banned in California now…

The last thing I want at that time is to have to reason about any of this.

I think I’m realizing that what I cherish about the healthcare system up here is not just that I don’t pay bills, but that I don’t even see a bill. Not that the bankruptcy inducing costs aren’t wretched, but I just cannot even imagine being put into a fucked up bureaucratic hell while my family is in a life altering crisis.

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#12

Post by jfim »

josefritzishere wrote: post #3

TLDR: private equity

The article argues the exact opposite:

> The standard answer is greed: rapacious ambulance operators, owned by villainous private equity firms, exploit patients at their most helpless. But I don’t think that’s actually what’s going on. Ambulance providers are chronically unprofitable businesses; margins are thin, crews are underpaid, and operators exit the industry every year.

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#14

Post by [deleted] »

jfim wrote: post #12
josefritzishere wrote: post #3

TLDR: private equity

The article argues the exact opposite: > The standard answer is greed: rapacious ambulance operators, owned by villainous private equity firms, exploit patients at their most helpless. But I don’t think that’s actually what’s going on. Ambulance providers are chronically unprofitable businesses; margins are thin, crews are underpaid, and operators exit the industry every year.

[deleted]

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#15

Post by burnhamup »

arjie wrote: post #5

You don't have to pay them unless they're specific. I got a bill 3 years after being in an accident and I asked them for the documentation they legally have to provide me (itemization, the legal basis, detailed incident record, attempts on their part to contact insurance) of how they arrived at the sum. It's been a year since and they haven't given me anything. Besides this kind of billing is banned in California now…

Yeah, my family was hit by two ambulance bills in California in 2024, and tried to balance bill us contrary to the law. It was a really frustrating experience trying to get them follow the law. One of the ambulance companies waited an entire year to even file paperwork and still tried to get insurance and me to pay.

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#16

Post by rconti »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #8
darth_avocado wrote: post #7

We’re all pretending this is an unsolvable problem when really most of the world has solved it by making ambulance (EMS) funding similar to fire and police departments. Somehow in any emergency I’ve seen, all three show up, often EMS before police or fire dept, and somehow that’s a service that has to be supplemented by insurance billings. The blog mentions it, but it’s one of those obvious things that somehow isn’t…

Very much so. We could fix this. We continue to choose not to, and will for some time into the future. Tangentially (think in systems), much of the US exists off of volunteer emergency services (fire and emt), which is rapidly evaporating. Average age of these volunteers is mid 50s. https://www.nfpa.org/news-blogs-and-articles/nfpa-journal/20... > For generations, volunteers have formed the backbone of the nation’s e…

We choose not to, because most consumers of ambulance services don't have to pay for it. So those of us who pay out of pocket for an ambulance, like I did ($1700 to go 3/4 of a mile last year) are a tiny minority.

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#17

Post by HumblyTossed »

darth_avocado wrote: post #7

We’re all pretending this is an unsolvable problem when really most of the world has solved it by making ambulance (EMS) funding similar to fire and police departments. Somehow in any emergency I’ve seen, all three show up, often EMS before police or fire dept, and somehow that’s a service that has to be supplemented by insurance billings. The blog mentions it, but it’s one of those obvious things that somehow isn’t…

But if we fixed it, that might help people who can't afford the ride otherwise. And we cannot have that.

  --- Says far too many people, always.

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#18

Post by vlian2088 »

darth_avocado wrote: post #7

We’re all pretending this is an unsolvable problem when really most of the world has solved it by making ambulance (EMS) funding similar to fire and police departments. Somehow in any emergency I’ve seen, all three show up, often EMS before police or fire dept, and somehow that’s a service that has to be supplemented by insurance billings. The blog mentions it, but it’s one of those obvious things that somehow isn’t…

the reverse side of that medal is that in 'most of the world' EMS quality is ass.

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#20

Post by disillusioned »

arjie wrote: post #5

You don't have to pay them unless they're specific. I got a bill 3 years after being in an accident and I asked them for the documentation they legally have to provide me (itemization, the legal basis, detailed incident record, attempts on their part to contact insurance) of how they arrived at the sum. It's been a year since and they haven't given me anything. Besides this kind of billing is banned in California now…

My wife had a miscarriage while we were staying at my Uncle's house in New Jersey. I was going to call 911, but instead, he decided he'd call from his landline. Difference between ambulance being free (because it was to a city resident's home) and costing what would have been $5k or so at least. Wild.
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