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Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

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Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#261

Post by altern8 »

tumdum_ wrote: post #259
altern8 wrote: post #237

I live in Poland and despite being Europe from what I understand they don't have socialized healthcare. You need to buy insurance from the government, or private (I have both). If you don't have it, you don't have a right to healthcare. Then, if you go to public doctors or hospital you still have to wait months for an exam or years for surgery. BUT, I've never heard of anyone going bankrupt from getting sick, or bein…

> they don't have socialized healthcare You have free healthcare for children (up to 18 years old), pregnant women and registered unemployed. Moreover, any working person can (for free) add their spouse and parents. Plus people can apply for free health insurance if they have very low income.

Not sure, that's why I specified "from what I understand".

BUT, most people aren't children, pregnant, or registered unemployed/very low income, so from that point of view to me it's still an insurance-centric system.

I pay a hefty amount each month and I was sick in the past and the system was so inefficient that I had to go to private doctors and clinics just to figure out what was wrong with me. I see the public insurance payments as a tax and I have private insurance to cover the costs of private doctors/hospitals.

But maybe that's just me.

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#262

Post by altern8 »

mgol94 wrote: post #245
altern8 wrote: post #237

I live in Poland and despite being Europe from what I understand they don't have socialized healthcare. You need to buy insurance from the government, or private (I have both). If you don't have it, you don't have a right to healthcare. Then, if you go to public doctors or hospital you still have to wait months for an exam or years for surgery. BUT, I've never heard of anyone going bankrupt from getting sick, or bein…

that's not true, access to the emergency medicine (and transport) is a constitutional right in Poland, you don't need NFZ coverage for that.

Same as in the USA. They are legally required to treat you in emergency situations there, too.

BUT, they will charge you for their services afterwards--both in the USA and in Poland.

Although I suspect that the bill from the American hospital will be A LOT more...

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#263

Post by onion2k »

NoMoreNicksLeft wrote: post #251
onion2k wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think the question is "Should ambulances be a thing?" though. It's a question of "Should someone in a situation where they need an ambulance have to balance the potentially life-threatening impact of saying no versus the potentially financially ruinous impact of saying yes?" The (fairly obvious) answer to that no one should be in that situation. It's horrible. Society should find a better way to pay for ambul…

[flagged]

Your argument leads me to assume you think everything that causes to someone need an ambulance is the result of their choices.

Victim of a violent crime? You shouldn't have left your house.

Run over by someone else? You shouldn't have left your house.

Caught an infectious disease? You shouldn't have left your house.

Fell down the stairs? Why were you in your house!?! Don't you know how dangerous it is?!?

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#264

Post by winrid »

My fun ancedotal story about US healthcare:

Kaiser transported me 4hrs in a ambulance to get surgery and I think I just paid the $200 ER fee

But then they would never cover an MRI for an issue with the same leg.

It's like we're almost done with this project guys, come on.

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#265

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

grogenaut wrote: post #207
onion2k wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think the question is "Should ambulances be a thing?" though. It's a question of "Should someone in a situation where they need an ambulance have to balance the potentially life-threatening impact of saying no versus the potentially financially ruinous impact of saying yes?" The (fairly obvious) answer to that no one should be in that situation. It's horrible. Society should find a better way to pay for ambul…

Is this the common cost or is this an outlier blog story that hit it off. Talk real data to me. I don't get excited about any individual anecdote (unless it's me personally of course). No people shouldn't be bankrupted for a short cab ride that's not needed. I'm not arguing that.

It’s pretty common.

I know that John Oliver is a bit of a “lightning rod,” for many folks, but he (or his staff, really) does his homework. He did a segment on it, some time ago: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ezv8sdTLxKo

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#267

Post by tancop »

NoMoreNicksLeft wrote: post #251
onion2k wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think the question is "Should ambulances be a thing?" though. It's a question of "Should someone in a situation where they need an ambulance have to balance the potentially life-threatening impact of saying no versus the potentially financially ruinous impact of saying yes?" The (fairly obvious) answer to that no one should be in that situation. It's horrible. Society should find a better way to pay for ambul…

[flagged]

[dead]

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#268

Post by Planktonne »

pclowes wrote: post #113
cogman10 wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is not the government’s job to “take care of” anybody. That is literally the only job of government. The entire reason we have a government is to serve the citizens in some fashion or another. Even for most libertarians, they'll view the government in having a role resolving disputes. That is "taking care of" citizens by resolving conflicts. Subsidizing farmers so citizens continue to have cheap and consistent a…

I think what I’m saying is being misinterpreted. I should have been more clear. Everybody’s definition of “taken care of” is different. The government needs to balance the interest of the public with the interest of the individual. It is not intended to “take care of “people regardless of their asks. Otherwise, what if I am only “taken care of” if I have a beachside penthouse in Malibu and also a pony? The government…

Do you think a beachside penthouse is really an equivalent example to life-saving medical care?

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#269

Post by Planktonne »

DoesntMatter22 wrote: post #24

I think the answer is very simple. Regulation. If there was no regulation or very little then anyone could open up an ambulance service and the cheapest costs and the best service would win. Unfortunately that’s not the case. It’s like day care. Day care is expensive because the government mandates it to be expensive. Otherwise you’d have grandmas down your street would gladly watch your kid but it’s generally not al…

The idea that everything gets better if we remove all regulation is one we know doesn't work. It's the model we've tested repeatedly, before each piece of regulation, and it always leads to negative outcomes.
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