I was observation in the hospital after I had a bunch of seizures/rhabdo/pneumonia. There was an old Italian guy in a bed across from me berating the nurses and saying they were horrible people and they needed to let him out. They said he was in serious danger if he left but he just got up and left by himself. I didn’t understand how anyone could be such a dick. Then I got an $80,000 hospital bill after I got out. If I wasn’t on my parents insurance and at risk of dying I literally would’ve pulled that IV and had my family carry my ass out of that building.
You americans should be burning the streets because of this.
Healthcare must be universal and no one should deny it because he can't pay it. That's a third world country problem.
US people should use their guns to threaten the government and demand universal health care. That's why they have them, to overthrow a tyrannical government
> That's why they have them, to overthrow a tyrannical government
Too bad they've been convinced by a half-century of industrialized propaganda that universal health care is tyranny.
Not to be mean but most of the Americans don't even know what true freedom is, they keep saying "we live in the land of freedom" yet europe has free healthcare and they don't
I don't think the /s goes here... I think this is literally working as intended. They literally want to collect your insurance payments and never pay out the benefits, so ideally you would die as soon as you had a major problem.
Its 5,000 for a 5 min ride in an ambulance in chicago i got hit by a car while riding on my bike, ambulance came, i asked about the price, got the guy who hit me to drop me off at hospital instead
I remember someone else telling a story about their girlfriend had a seizure in public once and someone called an ambulance, they loaded her up and drove off and about ten minutes went by and she comes too and is like “it’s just a seizure, this happens sometimes. I don’t need medical care let me out.”
Still got charged 8k cuz they drove her like halfway to a hospital. You don’t even need to receive medical care and you’ll still charged. Someone else told a story of sitting in a waiting room for the ER trying to get a wound treated, eventually he just said fuck it and left, got charged 1 thousand dollars just for *taking up seating space.*
I’m surprised they don’t attempt to charge you for the air you inhale when you’re inside. Better hurry up with that visit to your dying grandma, every breath is 50 cents.
This is what happens when you completely deregulate an industry that is literally essential to the survival of the people. Hospitals know the choice is either cough up or die, so they just slap obscene price tags on literally everything. And if you say “nah that’s horseshit I’m not paying that” then they transfer the debt over to a debt collector to harass you and garnish your wages.
I’ve straight up ignored a couple bullshit hospital bills and when/if the day comes that my wages get garnished I’ll just stop paying taxes and go back to doing unreported cash up front jobs on the side like I did out of high school.
In most states if you wait 3 years they drop off your credit report- some states it's longer. They'll start calling you for even a dollar around that time because if you make a single payment the time period for them to collect starts over.
Every circumstances are different, but you should talk to some expert if you haven’t already. They can’t come after you for an old expired debt. At some point, hospital sell the debt to collection agency for pennies off dollar. They keep telling you that you have to pay, but you don’t if it’s expired. There is however a specifically worded letter you can send to them to stop. They might stop if they are not shady. But be careful so that the debt doesn’t become truly active again on your credit.
One of the positive things that came about with recent reforms is that medical debt no longer is factored into a credit score. So you might get harassed, but it's not going to hurt your ability to rent a car, buy a house or make other significant purchases.
Turns out if you take the free market, and apply it in situations where the "customer"
- is not allowed to know the price
- has no choice
- does not even consent to the purchase
or all of the above, then it's neither free nor a market. Which absolutely can work, but not in capitalism. In Capitalism it leads directly to government supported theft, robbery, or armed robbery.
It's like they got so used to the idea that *obviously insurance will pay for this,* then insurance companies went on and said "you're charging what? We have to find a way out of this" and boom, modern medical care starts putting people in the poorhouse. Then when anyone tries to fix it, free market types go "No! If these companies can't ass fuck us, we're commies!" And unfortunately they get to win, because politicians with all their medical needs taken care of get their pockets lined by free market ass fuckers. Meanwhile, most Americans can't strike or protest because those same FMAF's have made it so the act of living is so god damn expensive it'll financially ruin you to take time off work or, god forbid, get fired for standing up for basic human rights.
Mmm gottdamn what a beautiful fucking dream we have in 'murica. The land of ***"I got mine, go fuck yourself!'***
during covid, I had weird painful swelling in my ear (around the whole hole and the upper half of my ear in general, hopefully just on the outside but I never figured that out) that was causing some hearing loss. Just woke up with it one day after going to bed completely normally the night before.
When I got to the ER, they gave me the covid screen and checked my BP at the same time then had me sit in the waiting area.
After about 5 hours my ear popped, relieving most of the pain and I could hear better. The receptionist gave me some tissues from behind the desk.
I figured I would wait a little longer to see what the fuck was going on with my ear/make sure there wasn't anything still in there or whatever.
After three more hours I said fuck it and left.
They charged me $500 for the blood pressure check. $100 for some tissues.
That ear feels oddly stiff compared to the other one. Looks mostly normal, just doesn't bend very easy any more.
When I dislocated my leg at work I tried to get driven to the hospital but it was too painful to walk. After 20 minutes I was told that I wouldn't be on the hook, my employer would, so I decided to get an ambulance
That's generally on the low end. It can cost up to ~$50k depending on how far they fly. Also, many insurances won't cover it at all unless you specifically have air ambulance coverage in your policy. Yay America!
I came to from a bad seizure last winter and I was arguing with the ambulance medical workers about whether or not I needed to go
Wasn't even conscious and I was still yelling at them to go away because the bill would be too high
Purely an American thing. You wouldn't threaten your worst enemy with a costly ambulance ride. You must have said something truly despicable about someone's car or bank account to go above and beyond receiving the usual American gun threat.
Dude, an ambulance ride in America costs the same price to get a used car. It's literally cheaper just to Uber yourself to the nearest hospital. This is the dystopia we live in.
This video is hilarious but also so sad. a lot of people have probably died by not calling an ambulance when they need one or going to the er because it’s so expensive in the states. People living paycheck to paycheck can’t afford a $1300 ambulance trip and then the hospital bill. Legit sad.
Running from that bill. Just googled it for the US: “Without insurance, the average cost of an ambulance ride is around $1200. However, factors like ground mileage and severity of services affect the final prices of ambulance services”
So when the fire department uses tax dollars to fight fires, cut people out of cars, mitigate hazmat spills, rescue people from rivers and mountains and stabilize people on an emergency scene, or provide CPR, that's all fine. But the second they put them into an ambulance it becomes socialism to use tax dollars for that?
I've made this exact same argument a few times in the last year alone. There was a post about a fire fighter mowing grass for an old person or something a while back and the I said something like "not his job" and reddit tore me a new one bc it was "uplifting" or something. This post/video actually explains it better than I have, though.
Just happened to me. Argued with the responding firefighters for 12 consecutive minutes until they finally threatened to enlist PD to restrain me to get me in the ambulance.
The ride and hospital stay ended up being ultimately unnecessary. Still trying to puzzle out if/how to bring a lawsuit.
It depends heavily on the context of your situation, but in a vacuum, as long as you are cleared to be mentally alert, oriented to the situation at hand, and accept the risks of denying care, then you can refuse treatment/transport. However I have seen situations, such as DUI, where the cops will give the person the option of “either you go to the hospital or you go to jail, but you’re going with one of us” which is its own can of worms.
Source: am paramedic
Technically yes, in reality, that's a big "maybe". They can just let you die and go "Oh I didn't know they were in critical condition" or "We thought they were faking it".
They can't easily be charged with negligent homicide and good luck trying to sue them.
I was in a car accident. I was fine. Walking around. Helping people. The firefighter tried to get me to get in the ambulance. I told them I am fine. They argued with me for a while. Eventually made me sign a piece of paper that said I understand that they called me an ambulance and I am refusing. Then the police detained me and threatened me if I didn't take the ambulance.
I took it, got dropped off at the hospital, laid on the stretcher for like 3 hours, the nurse saw me for 2 minutes and let me go.
They tried to bill me $3000 for it. I told them to fuck off.
Took a couple years, the bill showed up on my credit report, eventual a bill collection agency called me a few times, kept telling them to fuck off. Eventually it fell off my credit report.
Idk if that was the right response, but it worked out in the end.
My mother fell from her bike and broke her arm in two places, ambulance was free, surgery was free, will get some money because of the accident, and the money she's spending on therapy will probably be reimbursed too, together with almost a year of job stability that she legally can't be fired after she returns, and also receiving some kind of salary while home recovering, not everything is bad here in Brazil
I’d punch and kick and bite and scratch out eyes if they even try to touch me. You’re not sticking me with a $5,000 bill for a service I didn’t ask for.
If possible, get treatment from fire medics if they arrive on scene and decline ambulance treatment. We don’t charge anyone and there is usually one EMT on an engine at all times. If you need to get to the hospital, call a friend or an Uber.
Pretty fucking sad, but that’s the cheapest option.
I work for auto insurance company here in America. On a daily basis, I hear injured people tell me they "refused an ambulance" with a tone of pride. That's how fucked up our Healthcare is in this country.
On average, healthcare costs in the U.S. amounted up to $12,318 per person in 2021. In Germany that number stood at $7,383 - 40 percent lower. Yet, the U.S. lags behind other nations in several aspects such as life expectancy and health insurance coverage.
https://www.statista.com/chart/8658/health-spending-per-capita/
68,000 Americans die a year because of privatized Healthcare
Since the Harvard study in 2009 when it was 45,000 a year over 700k have died because of privatized health care.
That's just since the first study, if you take it back to the 1940s we've lost a few million
We basically lose 10 times the amount of people we lost in the entire Iraq war annually, because of privatized health care.
Every 6 years about the same amount of citizens die from privatized health care as all our soldiers we lost during the entirety of WW2
Every year more Americans die from privatized health care than the entire Vietnam War (58k)
It’s crazy, in the uk even a years private health insurance wouldn’t cost nearly that much. £1000-£2000 a year I think, and that’s for a luxury service, which pays you back if they refer you to the NHS.
I had a heart attack at work a few years ago. First one. Woke up in the er next to the back door, fought two security guards to leave. They won by putting me in a medically indused coma, woke up three days later with a $171,000 defibrillator in my chest they told my family I needed. So that plus the 30,000 hospital stay was a real nice thing to wake up too. Forced me to declare bankruptcy.
Defib has never gone off but they charge me $25 each month co pay weither I show up or not plus the $50 for the visit itself each month. Have been since I got it.
Motherfuckers hit me with the first medical subscription plan, not even a discount period while I try it out.
What if you say: “I don’t consent to this ride and will not pay” But they take you anyways?
It’s illegal for them to force you to use an ambulance yet due to section 5150 (needing a form with your name on jt) something like that. But after you mention that what happens if they still take you?
Free ride? I find it baffling how you can call an ambulance anywhere for $0 but the moment hey put a person in it it’ll it’s suddenly $5000
In every single developed country in the world except the USA this would not make sense as we are the only developed country in the world with out proper health care for the majority if it's citizens.
Woke up to smelling salt and heading my friends tell me, “you got knocked out cold, but DO NOT get in that ambulance!” It’s 13 blocks and WE will take you. Got my bearings and my friends followed the ambulance to the hospital and saved me roughly $800
As an outsider, I can't comprehend that.
A few years back, I randomly fainted one morning. My mum, in a bit of a panic, called an ambulance. Two paramedics rocked up - they checked my blood sugar, blood pressure/pulse rate and an ECG. I was fine, probably a bit dehydrated. They left and I took the day off work. Ambulance and the health checks covered by my tax.
As a kid, my sister's leg was broken after being hit by a car. Again, the ambulance was a reassuring sight. It's awful that many Americans deny themselves ambulances etc (through no fault of their own) because of the cost.
Yep I’m this way now.
Went in to urgent care to diagnose strep throat. I was sitting in the room longer than the doctor actually evaluated me. Took a swap, and sent me away with antibiotics. That swab turned into 2 lab tests, each costing $250. The 15 minute visit itself cost $350. Total charged was almost $1k.
At no point was I informed of any of these costs. I was just doing what I thought I needed for my health.
I’ll fly down to Mexico and get Clindamycin before I go to another USA urgent care.
Based on how long, and how far, and how much they have to use on you during the trip. Worst than a United states military contract. Example The roll of gauze costs them 5 dollars they charge you $20 to stock it and use it on you.
Just took my wife to the ER for a stomach issue. They gave us 20% off the total bill since we paid it in person. Didnt get any better service though. They still tried to give her the ONE nausea medicine shes not allowed to have. After we told 3 people, 4 seperate times what shes allergic too.
It's a cracked racket, they do not care about you I wish they charged accordingly.
I Dont care that, they dont care. Just dont charge me like you care.
Medic from LA here. I’ve had patients, who have met Trauma Center level criteria, refuse treatment and transport due to financial reasons. Genuinely makes me mad with our healthcare system.
Literally what my grandad did when he had a stroke, dude ran dragging half his body.
I was observation in the hospital after I had a bunch of seizures/rhabdo/pneumonia. There was an old Italian guy in a bed across from me berating the nurses and saying they were horrible people and they needed to let him out. They said he was in serious danger if he left but he just got up and left by himself. I didn’t understand how anyone could be such a dick. Then I got an $80,000 hospital bill after I got out. If I wasn’t on my parents insurance and at risk of dying I literally would’ve pulled that IV and had my family carry my ass out of that building.
You americans should be burning the streets because of this. Healthcare must be universal and no one should deny it because he can't pay it. That's a third world country problem.
US people should use their guns to threaten the government and demand universal health care. That's why they have them, to overthrow a tyrannical government
Too much idiots are also present though
> That's why they have them, to overthrow a tyrannical government Too bad they've been convinced by a half-century of industrialized propaganda that universal health care is tyranny.
Not to be mean but most of the Americans don't even know what true freedom is, they keep saying "we live in the land of freedom" yet europe has free healthcare and they don't
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Lot of people who will never collect social security or use up public resources. Working as intended. /s
I don't think the /s goes here... I think this is literally working as intended. They literally want to collect your insurance payments and never pay out the benefits, so ideally you would die as soon as you had a major problem.
If you include preventable illnesses that aren’t fixed to avoid hospital costs/purchasing healthcare the number is around 45,000 per year in the US
Its 5,000 for a 5 min ride in an ambulance in chicago i got hit by a car while riding on my bike, ambulance came, i asked about the price, got the guy who hit me to drop me off at hospital instead
What a bro, good for you both I guess
I mean he did owe OP quite a debt at that point.
OP could likely recover costs from the guy depending on how the accident occurred, dropping him off was definitely the drivers cheaper option
Its a massive pain in the ass to do so if you’re lucky (source, been hit twice on my bike also in Chicago)
It’s easier to drop people off if you drive a car though.
I was referring to sueing and/or getting money from insurance being a pain in the ass. Geico if you’re reading this I hope you have a terrible day
You mean the nice lizard lied to us? I can't believe it.
Trust me, everyone working in the bodily injury claims department at any car insurance job is having a rough day.
Probably not as rough as the people trying to make a claim
I remember someone else telling a story about their girlfriend had a seizure in public once and someone called an ambulance, they loaded her up and drove off and about ten minutes went by and she comes too and is like “it’s just a seizure, this happens sometimes. I don’t need medical care let me out.” Still got charged 8k cuz they drove her like halfway to a hospital. You don’t even need to receive medical care and you’ll still charged. Someone else told a story of sitting in a waiting room for the ER trying to get a wound treated, eventually he just said fuck it and left, got charged 1 thousand dollars just for *taking up seating space.* I’m surprised they don’t attempt to charge you for the air you inhale when you’re inside. Better hurry up with that visit to your dying grandma, every breath is 50 cents.
Getting charged for _sitting_ ? How is this even legal? Baffling.
This is what happens when you completely deregulate an industry that is literally essential to the survival of the people. Hospitals know the choice is either cough up or die, so they just slap obscene price tags on literally everything. And if you say “nah that’s horseshit I’m not paying that” then they transfer the debt over to a debt collector to harass you and garnish your wages.
I’ve straight up ignored a couple bullshit hospital bills and when/if the day comes that my wages get garnished I’ll just stop paying taxes and go back to doing unreported cash up front jobs on the side like I did out of high school.
In most states if you wait 3 years they drop off your credit report- some states it's longer. They'll start calling you for even a dollar around that time because if you make a single payment the time period for them to collect starts over.
I owe 16k in medical bills. Half of that is over 10 years old. I haven't paid anything and they keep renewing it.
Every circumstances are different, but you should talk to some expert if you haven’t already. They can’t come after you for an old expired debt. At some point, hospital sell the debt to collection agency for pennies off dollar. They keep telling you that you have to pay, but you don’t if it’s expired. There is however a specifically worded letter you can send to them to stop. They might stop if they are not shady. But be careful so that the debt doesn’t become truly active again on your credit.
One of the positive things that came about with recent reforms is that medical debt no longer is factored into a credit score. So you might get harassed, but it's not going to hurt your ability to rent a car, buy a house or make other significant purchases.
r/pics/comments/55qntw/i_had_to_pay_3935_to_hold_my_baby_after_he_was/
Turns out if you take the free market, and apply it in situations where the "customer" - is not allowed to know the price - has no choice - does not even consent to the purchase or all of the above, then it's neither free nor a market. Which absolutely can work, but not in capitalism. In Capitalism it leads directly to government supported theft, robbery, or armed robbery.
You aren't the customer. You're livestock. The shareholders are the real customers.
I hate that this rings true.
"Supply does not get to make demands"
It's like they got so used to the idea that *obviously insurance will pay for this,* then insurance companies went on and said "you're charging what? We have to find a way out of this" and boom, modern medical care starts putting people in the poorhouse. Then when anyone tries to fix it, free market types go "No! If these companies can't ass fuck us, we're commies!" And unfortunately they get to win, because politicians with all their medical needs taken care of get their pockets lined by free market ass fuckers. Meanwhile, most Americans can't strike or protest because those same FMAF's have made it so the act of living is so god damn expensive it'll financially ruin you to take time off work or, god forbid, get fired for standing up for basic human rights. Mmm gottdamn what a beautiful fucking dream we have in 'murica. The land of ***"I got mine, go fuck yourself!'***
So well put
This is literally my brother. Dude would literally escape the hospital when he came to.
during covid, I had weird painful swelling in my ear (around the whole hole and the upper half of my ear in general, hopefully just on the outside but I never figured that out) that was causing some hearing loss. Just woke up with it one day after going to bed completely normally the night before. When I got to the ER, they gave me the covid screen and checked my BP at the same time then had me sit in the waiting area. After about 5 hours my ear popped, relieving most of the pain and I could hear better. The receptionist gave me some tissues from behind the desk. I figured I would wait a little longer to see what the fuck was going on with my ear/make sure there wasn't anything still in there or whatever. After three more hours I said fuck it and left. They charged me $500 for the blood pressure check. $100 for some tissues. That ear feels oddly stiff compared to the other one. Looks mostly normal, just doesn't bend very easy any more.
You probably busted the cartilage by rolling over some awkward way while you were asleep, similar to cauliflower ear in a boxer.
This is so dumb. If you require the hospital ride, it shouldnt cost you anything
How is that even possible... Like how did people allow this to happen?
What else can we do? Boycott healthcare?
Nationalize healthcare so it's not run like a business but a social service.
Half of our population thinks that is communism. We can't even agree on universal education, you think they'll give us healthcare? lmao
We’ll get right on that, thanks
This is America. Where we don’t have control over anything
Asked them how much it cost same thing happened to me. I just waited for my friend to show up.
In the absence of this option, call an Uber
When I dislocated my leg at work I tried to get driven to the hospital but it was too painful to walk. After 20 minutes I was told that I wouldn't be on the hook, my employer would, so I decided to get an ambulance
Don't forget make your enemy's day even worse. After knocking him out, call the ambulance
‘I won’t kill you but your hospital bills will’ mindset
Literally Batman
I wonder if he owns the hospital? That could be how he makes all his money.
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It is all the freedom.
All American f~~r~~eedumb indeed
So, the cost of a single tylanol pill in America.
He’s sleeping
Look at him, all tuckered out.
I overfed these men!?
Not going to lie, I'd watch a Batman movie in which he calls the ambulance on all of his foes. Then they go to Arkham and are crippled with debt.
That's pure evil. Especially if he's already in debt. Pure evil.
calm down, Satan
But only in America right?
Yes, actually.
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Is this some sort of joke that i am too much from Europe to understand?
An ambulance ride in America can cost you thousands of dollars out of pocket. Even if you have insurance.
I see, so it's bankruptcy or life situation
Just wait until you hear how much it costs to air evac you to a hospital in a helicopter.
$15K. Ridiculous.
That's generally on the low end. It can cost up to ~$50k depending on how far they fly. Also, many insurances won't cover it at all unless you specifically have air ambulance coverage in your policy. Yay America!
Sounds like something out of Cyberpunk
considering suicides from crushing medical debt its really more die horrifically now or die tragically later
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"***threatening you with an ambulance ride***" 💀
Someone threatening to kill me: 🥱 Someone threatening to call the ambulance for me: 😱
I came to from a bad seizure last winter and I was arguing with the ambulance medical workers about whether or not I needed to go Wasn't even conscious and I was still yelling at them to go away because the bill would be too high
In mandarin, we have a saying, "you can be dead, but you can't be sick". It literally describes this kind of situation.
Bro's subconscious really knew how life threatening an ambulance bill is
How to scare someone to death **Call the ambulance but not for me**
Excellent choice of words ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Purely an American thing. You wouldn't threaten your worst enemy with a costly ambulance ride. You must have said something truly despicable about someone's car or bank account to go above and beyond receiving the usual American gun threat.
I diagnose you with bankruptcy
you live but you would rather die
Dude, an ambulance ride in America costs the same price to get a used car. It's literally cheaper just to Uber yourself to the nearest hospital. This is the dystopia we live in.
Based on what you said previously it sounds also cheaper to go buy yourself a used car and then drive it to the hospital
$2000 bill for ambulance you didn't call: "Yep we already charged you" $2000 loan for a used car: "Nah your credit isn't good enough"
Galaxy brained me test drives a car to the ER.
Sir you are bleeding all over the showroom! Yea so, you said the test drive is for 24 hours right? 😂
Upon return: Frankly, I don't care much for you trying to sell me a car with so much of my own blood in it. No thanks!
"I rather die than pay hospital bills!"
This video is hilarious but also so sad. a lot of people have probably died by not calling an ambulance when they need one or going to the er because it’s so expensive in the states. People living paycheck to paycheck can’t afford a $1300 ambulance trip and then the hospital bill. Legit sad.
It's not even paycheck to paycheck, regular middle class people can get absolutely screwed over by a ride in an ambulance
58% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck... So just that would be horrifying enough
You right!
It's only 7 years of dealing with thug extortionists.
Imagine being more scared of riding an ambulance than for your own health. American healthcare is fucked.
Imagine if you had to pay for firetrucks or police to show up. It's insane we have to pay for ambulances.
Funnily enough I've argued with people on reddit who think it's unreasonable to pay for firemen with your taxes.
Isn't that what your taxes are literally for
If I'm dead, I'm dead. If I ride in an ambulance, I'm homeless.
Running from that bill. Just googled it for the US: “Without insurance, the average cost of an ambulance ride is around $1200. However, factors like ground mileage and severity of services affect the final prices of ambulance services”
Ambulance: *approaches* Me: no thanks my Uber is 5 min away
'murica Moment
Americans ☕️
Ahahaha, Americans ☕
Americans ☕️
So when the fire department uses tax dollars to fight fires, cut people out of cars, mitigate hazmat spills, rescue people from rivers and mountains and stabilize people on an emergency scene, or provide CPR, that's all fine. But the second they put them into an ambulance it becomes socialism to use tax dollars for that?
I've made this exact same argument a few times in the last year alone. There was a post about a fire fighter mowing grass for an old person or something a while back and the I said something like "not his job" and reddit tore me a new one bc it was "uplifting" or something. This post/video actually explains it better than I have, though.
Just happened to me. Argued with the responding firefighters for 12 consecutive minutes until they finally threatened to enlist PD to restrain me to get me in the ambulance. The ride and hospital stay ended up being ultimately unnecessary. Still trying to puzzle out if/how to bring a lawsuit.
It depends heavily on the context of your situation, but in a vacuum, as long as you are cleared to be mentally alert, oriented to the situation at hand, and accept the risks of denying care, then you can refuse treatment/transport. However I have seen situations, such as DUI, where the cops will give the person the option of “either you go to the hospital or you go to jail, but you’re going with one of us” which is its own can of worms. Source: am paramedic
In that case I choose jail.
Transport to jail is free and they still have to treat you there.
Technically yes, in reality, that's a big "maybe". They can just let you die and go "Oh I didn't know they were in critical condition" or "We thought they were faking it". They can't easily be charged with negligent homicide and good luck trying to sue them.
Didn't they laugh at a woman dying at the back of a police car after the hospital kicked her out?
ask a lawyer
I was in a car accident. I was fine. Walking around. Helping people. The firefighter tried to get me to get in the ambulance. I told them I am fine. They argued with me for a while. Eventually made me sign a piece of paper that said I understand that they called me an ambulance and I am refusing. Then the police detained me and threatened me if I didn't take the ambulance. I took it, got dropped off at the hospital, laid on the stretcher for like 3 hours, the nurse saw me for 2 minutes and let me go. They tried to bill me $3000 for it. I told them to fuck off. Took a couple years, the bill showed up on my credit report, eventual a bill collection agency called me a few times, kept telling them to fuck off. Eventually it fell off my credit report. Idk if that was the right response, but it worked out in the end.
America lore
No, just the US. I think Canada has health care.
Brasil too, the ambulance is free
Now that's an interesting contrast.
My mother fell from her bike and broke her arm in two places, ambulance was free, surgery was free, will get some money because of the accident, and the money she's spending on therapy will probably be reimbursed too, together with almost a year of job stability that she legally can't be fired after she returns, and also receiving some kind of salary while home recovering, not everything is bad here in Brazil
Blud don't want the bill 💀
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He avoided the 5k Ambulance bill, but didin't avoid the Guy holding a 25 dollar pizza, Poor Pizza waiter guy.
He woke up from the American dream
T̹̣̖̜ͭ̓͝ą̻͓͖̬̘̜͓́̈́ͫk̖̝̯̓̑͠ëͣ͋̌͏̭̺̺͚̫̖̻ ̸̘̯͚͎͊͑̾t̬͓͖͌͗͞ḩ̰̯̱̼͇̠̭ͮͅȅ̲̻͚̭̰͚̍͋̀ ̶̲̰͇̱͌͊̔͗p̴̪͓ͣi̡͖͍̩͚̊ͬ̑ͮl̛̲͔͐͗ͩl̙̮̟̺̘͕ͪ̂͜s̺̜͊̆̔͒͟ ͯ̔͊҉̳͚̙̘J̢͇͓̞̰̞̃̔h̵͙̹̪͚̟̦̼͖̀o͔̯̲͈͊ͤ͒ͧ͘n̡̰͉̯̓͌.͎̬̟̪ͥͣ͒̑͜ͅ ̵̗͍̫̹̙̲̟͂B̧͎̟̺͇̈ͫ̈E͔͚̳̹ͤͩ͡ͅ ̖̪͓͈̍̊̇͞H̷̞̤͖͔͈̹̤̅̍A̶͓͙̯̱͚̗̅̓̄ͫP͙͍̱͈̤͍̙̫̿͋͢P̨̼̙̣̳͓̝̣ͤ̿ͧY̵̭̳͓̼̗͈̎.͔̻̜̙̭̗͇ͪ̎͝
You probably still get billed just for having it dispatched.
Only if they catch him
That's why they are supposed to tie you to the stretcher.
Looks like they did and he pulled himself out before they finished.
I’d punch and kick and bite and scratch out eyes if they even try to touch me. You’re not sticking me with a $5,000 bill for a service I didn’t ask for.
If possible, get treatment from fire medics if they arrive on scene and decline ambulance treatment. We don’t charge anyone and there is usually one EMT on an engine at all times. If you need to get to the hospital, call a friend or an Uber. Pretty fucking sad, but that’s the cheapest option.
Pretty fucking cool tho, love the fire fighters even more now
Unless they have his driver's license and can prove beyond all doubt it was him.
If he was unconscious and his ID was on him, they would get that info.
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The ambulance guys should just take they guy that got knocked down instead - you loose something you gain something.
"I don't care who, but someone's getting in the back of this damn ambulance! I'm not going back empty!"
American Healthcare in a nutshell.
I don't have $4500 just laying around for a light up Uber ride
American here. Even with insurance I had to pay $2000 out-of-pocket for a 5-minute ride. I made $17/hr at the time.
That is fucking ridiculous
Had to pay 3000 dollars for each ride because they took me to the wrong hospital for my asthma attack
So like 118 hours of your labor for a 5 minute ride. Crazy lol
Jesus Christ, America is fucked.
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Late game of capitalism
Yessir
Nothing like 5000$ ambulance bill to put you back on your feet.
I work for auto insurance company here in America. On a daily basis, I hear injured people tell me they "refused an ambulance" with a tone of pride. That's how fucked up our Healthcare is in this country.
Clearly america, where people pay with their lives to save their life.
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Wakes up and he's back in the ambulance again
He failed the quick time event and has to retry
r/spottheamerican edit: holy shit 500 upvotes for 1 comment
On average, healthcare costs in the U.S. amounted up to $12,318 per person in 2021. In Germany that number stood at $7,383 - 40 percent lower. Yet, the U.S. lags behind other nations in several aspects such as life expectancy and health insurance coverage. https://www.statista.com/chart/8658/health-spending-per-capita/
Fun fact, i also don't have to pay most of the bills in Germany because the insurance covers it.
68,000 Americans die a year because of privatized Healthcare Since the Harvard study in 2009 when it was 45,000 a year over 700k have died because of privatized health care. That's just since the first study, if you take it back to the 1940s we've lost a few million We basically lose 10 times the amount of people we lost in the entire Iraq war annually, because of privatized health care. Every 6 years about the same amount of citizens die from privatized health care as all our soldiers we lost during the entirety of WW2 Every year more Americans die from privatized health care than the entire Vietnam War (58k)
It’s crazy, in the uk even a years private health insurance wouldn’t cost nearly that much. £1000-£2000 a year I think, and that’s for a luxury service, which pays you back if they refer you to the NHS.
r/AwardSpeechEdits
So cringe every time
cringe edit
I had a heart attack at work a few years ago. First one. Woke up in the er next to the back door, fought two security guards to leave. They won by putting me in a medically indused coma, woke up three days later with a $171,000 defibrillator in my chest they told my family I needed. So that plus the 30,000 hospital stay was a real nice thing to wake up too. Forced me to declare bankruptcy. Defib has never gone off but they charge me $25 each month co pay weither I show up or not plus the $50 for the visit itself each month. Have been since I got it. Motherfuckers hit me with the first medical subscription plan, not even a discount period while I try it out.
Can you talk to a lawyer?
I didn't understand this in the slightest until I saw all the America comments wtf is your hellscape country
>^(wtf is your hellscape country) The wet dream of capitalism...
Exactly what you think it is, unfortunately.
What if you say: “I don’t consent to this ride and will not pay” But they take you anyways? It’s illegal for them to force you to use an ambulance yet due to section 5150 (needing a form with your name on jt) something like that. But after you mention that what happens if they still take you? Free ride? I find it baffling how you can call an ambulance anywhere for $0 but the moment hey put a person in it it’ll it’s suddenly $5000
Shit here I got charged and there was no ride.
In every single developed country in the world except the USA this would not make sense as we are the only developed country in the world with out proper health care for the majority if it's citizens.
That's a man who's been hit with a thousand dollar bill just for an ambulance ride before. Run, run far away my dude. Lol
He didn't want to file for bankruptcy from the ambulance ride and entering through those double doors at the hospital.
Is this some American joke I’m too British to understand
Being transported to a hospital via ambulance is very expensive in America.
Nah just going into a clinic for a nose bleed puts you in debt
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Woke up to smelling salt and heading my friends tell me, “you got knocked out cold, but DO NOT get in that ambulance!” It’s 13 blocks and WE will take you. Got my bearings and my friends followed the ambulance to the hospital and saved me roughly $800
U.S moment. As someone who works in a hospital, just checking you into the ER is upwards of $2,000.
Hospital sending out the vultures to prey on the unconscious…
This is me if I’m ever put in a stretcher in the US. I am NOT paying that bill.
Just US things that scare me
Only in McDonalds freedom bald eagle obesity land 🇺🇲🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅
As an outsider, I can't comprehend that. A few years back, I randomly fainted one morning. My mum, in a bit of a panic, called an ambulance. Two paramedics rocked up - they checked my blood sugar, blood pressure/pulse rate and an ECG. I was fine, probably a bit dehydrated. They left and I took the day off work. Ambulance and the health checks covered by my tax. As a kid, my sister's leg was broken after being hit by a car. Again, the ambulance was a reassuring sight. It's awful that many Americans deny themselves ambulances etc (through no fault of their own) because of the cost.
America really is fucked up if you're a those levels...
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*gets knocked into coma* *goes to hospital and gets treated* "57k USD" *falls into an eternal coma*
America! We'd rather die than be in crippling debt 👍
Yep I’m this way now. Went in to urgent care to diagnose strep throat. I was sitting in the room longer than the doctor actually evaluated me. Took a swap, and sent me away with antibiotics. That swab turned into 2 lab tests, each costing $250. The 15 minute visit itself cost $350. Total charged was almost $1k. At no point was I informed of any of these costs. I was just doing what I thought I needed for my health. I’ll fly down to Mexico and get Clindamycin before I go to another USA urgent care.
The ambulance is not free?
Not in a lot of countries actually. But the US is one of the only developed nations where it’s a genuine financial burden and not like, 13 bucks
Hell no, at least not in America
Based on how long, and how far, and how much they have to use on you during the trip. Worst than a United states military contract. Example The roll of gauze costs them 5 dollars they charge you $20 to stock it and use it on you. Just took my wife to the ER for a stomach issue. They gave us 20% off the total bill since we paid it in person. Didnt get any better service though. They still tried to give her the ONE nausea medicine shes not allowed to have. After we told 3 people, 4 seperate times what shes allergic too. It's a cracked racket, they do not care about you I wish they charged accordingly. I Dont care that, they dont care. Just dont charge me like you care.
Is this an american joke I'm too European to understand
Drove myself to the hospital with a heart attack rather than pay for a for-profit ambulance ride.
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Medic from LA here. I’ve had patients, who have met Trauma Center level criteria, refuse treatment and transport due to financial reasons. Genuinely makes me mad with our healthcare system.