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Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

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Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#501

Post by Ferret7446 »

getpokedagain wrote: post #361
grogenaut wrote: post #170

He refused to go in an ambulance the first time. He could have refused the second ride. You can refuse transport or medical care at any time as long as you are able to make rational decisions. As an EMT if you're A&Ox4, alert to time, place, person and event, you make the choices. You do sign a release so we have proof we didn't abandon you, but you make the choice. If we move you without your approval, it's kidnappi…

>> He could have refused the second ride. You can refuse transport or medical care at any time as long as you are able to make rational decisions. Disagreed. Someone who is cogent and not intoxicated and not a stroke victim can't always make the best choices. Your decision making can be compromised by I dunno the fucking pain of a broken toe bone. Seeking help should not be interpreted as a sign of weakness and made…

By that logic no one can make choices for themselves, because people are never in the absolute theoretical optimal mental state.

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#502

Post by pshirshov »

gosub100 wrote: post #459
pshirshov wrote: post #439

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I've never seen anything like this. Usually it's billing company who sues, not providers dierctly - again, from my experience.

That's like saying "the fall doesn't kill you, it's the sudden stop".

I meant that I haven't seen such early lawsuits initiated by whoever.

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#503

Post by mikeodds »

hnthrow10282910 wrote: post #284
grogenaut wrote: post #170

He refused to go in an ambulance the first time. He could have refused the second ride. You can refuse transport or medical care at any time as long as you are able to make rational decisions. As an EMT if you're A&Ox4, alert to time, place, person and event, you make the choices. You do sign a release so we have proof we didn't abandon you, but you make the choice. If we move you without your approval, it's kidnappi…

I fainted once and my wife called an ambulance as I was unconcious due to Covid. I was fully aware when the ambulance arrived and refused. They peer pressured me very hard anyways. It was a 1 mile drive and cost me $14,000

You do have to question why representatives of the people have not managed to address this

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#504

Post by toomuchtodo »

expedition32 wrote: post #499
KetoManx64 wrote: post #480

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The Libertarians seem to either genuinely not care about the rest of the world or, more often than not, seem to be naive about how life can be for the less privileged No, they just put boundaries on what services they want handled by the government. Government programs are the least efficient and most wasteful way of getting a job done, and there are endless examples of this. Churches were historically the places p…

Christianity died in my country because people got tired of the judgemental, hypocritical cunts. The child abuse scandals that hit later only confirmed it.

It’s dying in the US too, just taking longer than other developed countries.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/697676/drop-religiosity-among-l...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46484284

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#505

Post by anticensor »

anovikov wrote: post #316

This problem just doesn't exist anywhere else in the world. Ambulance is just another truck. There are some fees involved with having priority on the road and some regulations, but it's just another truck. It won't cost (to anyone - i mean OF COURSE it is free for the actual patient) over a hundred euros or so to do a simple across-city ambulance ride anywhere in EU, maybe 2x the price of a cab. That's corruption and…

To be precise, a minibus.

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#506

Post by Sohcahtoa82 »

sgerenser wrote: post #467
Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #440

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> US doctors are overpaid. US nurses are over paid. Median pay for a Nurse Practitioner is $132K/yr [0]. I think that's reasonable. Average pay for physicians ranges from $220-450K depending on specialty. [1] Personally, I think doctors should be paid more than software engineers, so I think those numbers are all reasonable, especially when you consider what it takes just to enter the field. Nurses require a Master's…

You might find those salaries reasonable, but they’re probably double what those same occupations pay in many other (first world) countries with lower healthcare costs. Maybe the trade off is worth it, but it’s not something that can be ignored when people complain about how much more expensive healthcare is in the U.S. compared to Europe (for example).

> but they’re probably double what those same occupations pay in many other (first world) countries with lower healthcare costs

You'll find that salaries across the board are lower in other countries. Software developers in Europe make half of what they do in the USA. In exchange, they get far better benefits.

Also, physician salary only makes up about 8% of total healthcare costs [0]. Cutting salaries in half wouldn't significantly lower our healthcare costs.

[0] https://www.medicaleconomics.com/view/physician-pay-makes-up...

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#507

Post by KetoManx64 »

expedition32 wrote: post #499
KetoManx64 wrote: post #480

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The Libertarians seem to either genuinely not care about the rest of the world or, more often than not, seem to be naive about how life can be for the less privileged No, they just put boundaries on what services they want handled by the government. Government programs are the least efficient and most wasteful way of getting a job done, and there are endless examples of this. Churches were historically the places p…

Christianity died in my country because people got tired of the judgemental, hypocritical cunts. The child abuse scandals that hit later only confirmed it.

Worse than the child abuse scandals of goverment: - public school teachers sexually abusing their students - The Epstein files ?

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#508

Post by hnthrow10282910 »

mikeodds wrote: post #503
hnthrow10282910 wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I fainted once and my wife called an ambulance as I was unconcious due to Covid. I was fully aware when the ambulance arrived and refused. They peer pressured me very hard anyways. It was a 1 mile drive and cost me $14,000

You do have to question why representatives of the people have not managed to address this

My insurance says ambulance rides are covered 100%. Apparently most are out of network though, which the people have no choice of choosing (obviously).

I was sent a post insurance $8000 bill. After months and months of arguing they said it was an error on their side and dropped the charge. Absolutely ridiculous

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#509

Post by Planktonne »

Hnrobert42 wrote: post #463
Planktonne wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here you go: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48857068

Do you really not understand the difference between the one you cited and the one to which I was responding? The one to which I was responding was capricious. The one you cited has reasoning, even if you disagree with it. And that was the whole point of my comment. That by reducing the other side to a farcical strawman, you diminish your own argument. It just becomes a yelling match. I would rather debate the person…

You shifted the goalposts quite a lot there; first you wanted an example of evil, and now you want an example of unreasoning evil.

Evil is often very reasonable; pretending otherwise is a 'farcical strawman' of your own.

Re: Why American ambulance rides are so expensive

#510

Post by jmalicki »

jmalicki wrote: post #181
wewewedxfgdf wrote: post #37

There should be an "Uberlance" - discount emergency pickups by Uber, at Uber prices.

Unlike an ambulance, an uber driver won't be able to keep a hemodynamically unstable patient alive for a 30 minute transport. LAFD has already called Ubers for non-emergency transport to hospitals.

LACFD, and they encouraged the patients to call ubers, didn't call them themselves (I couldn't find the cite).

https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/la-county-changes-am...

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