Current Events > I heard in the US ambulances are so expensive people call Uber and Lyft.

(+) Yeah! (+)

we aren't smart.
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s0nicfan posted...

Maybe a dumb question... but why didn't he just declare bankruptcy?

http://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/bankruptcy/can-file-bankruptcy-eliminate-medical-bills.html

Bankruptcy would take one's assets to pay off the delinquent bills, such as one's retirement fund.
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s0nicfan posted...

MI4 REAL posted...

Sativa_Rose posted...

MI4 REAL posted...

my dad lost his 40 year retirement fund thanks to the fucking medical system here.

How?

pacemaker $50k

replacement battery another $50k

Maybe a dumb question... but why didn't he just declare bankruptcy?

http://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/bankruptcy/can-file-bankruptcy-eliminate-medical-bills.html

shouldnt have to declare bankruptcy just to get medical treatment
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we don't have the slightest goddamn idea. But would it matter? Bankruptcy would probably make us lose all our shit anyway.
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Rika_Furude posted...

s0nicfan posted...

MI4 REAL posted...

Sativa_Rose posted...

MI4 REAL posted...

my dad lost his 40 year retirement fund thanks to the fucking medical system here.

How?

pacemaker $50k

replacement battery another $50k

Maybe a dumb question... but why didn't he just declare bankruptcy?

http://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/bankruptcy/can-file-bankruptcy-eliminate-medical-bills.html

shouldnt have to declare bankruptcy just to get medical treatment

JFC no kidding.
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I agree. That doesn't answer why he didn't (or whether he did) though.
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DevsBro posted...

Plus there are no exceptions for people who didn't even call an ambulance and couldn't protest because they were unconscious when somebody else decided to call on their behalf.

This is what kills me. Bro, I didn't order the ambulance. I'd rather you called my mom or something to take me instead.
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I'd believe it.
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I'm a Uber/Lyft driver and I'd never fucking take anyone that required an ambulance. Something goes wrong you're gonna get blamed for it all. EMTs are paid much nicer for that shit, but more importantly they're trained for it.
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AvantgardeAClue posted...

EMTs are paid much nicer for that shit

They really aren't.
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AvantgardeAClue posted...

I'm a Uber/Lyft driver and I'd never fucking take anyone that required an ambulance. Something goes wrong you're gonna get blamed for it all. EMTs are paid much nicer for that shit, but more importantly they're trained for it.

They probably wouldn't tell you.
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MI4 REAL posted...

Sativa_Rose posted...

MI4 REAL posted...

my dad lost his 40 year retirement fund thanks to the fucking medical system here.

How?

pacemaker $50k

replacement battery another $50k

So did he have insurance because they have out of pocket maximums so I feel like there's a lot of info missing here.
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Trayvon posted...

they literally won't do shit if you don't/can't pay it.

It ruins your credit.
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byron posted...

Thousands of dollars in debt just to get to the place that will charge you even more!

America is the greatest country on Earth!

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most people I know just don't pay their medical bills. I know a guy who owes half a million dollars in medical bills and he never payed. then again the probably don't bug him cause hes on disability and they know he can't pay that shit getting 780 a month.
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But you know, privatization is the answer! /Sarcasm

This fucking country, I swear.
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EpicKingdom_ posted...

DrizztLink posted...

A guy I know had to get airlifted to Albuquerque.

He owes about 60 thousand for that.

I would literally just want to stay where I am at and die instead.

That's so dumb.
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Just call the hospital and haggle, people do it all the time
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A_Good_Boy posted...

America is a shithole country, that's why.

Hahahahahahah edgy
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cuttin_in_farm posted...

DevsBro posted...

Plus there are no exceptions for people who didn't even call an ambulance and couldn't protest because they were unconscious when somebody else decided to call on their behalf.

This is what kills me. Bro, I didn't order the ambulance. I'd rather you called my mom or something to take me instead.

Ya im sorry but if my friend is knocked unconscious im not gonna call mommy. Im gonna either call an ambulance or take you myself (facts depending)
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NeuralLaxative posted...

Just call the hospital and haggle, people do it all the time

You shouldn't have to haggle for your life.

_Rinku_ posted...

NeuralLaxative posted...

Just call the hospital and haggle, people do it all the time

You shouldn't have to haggle for your life.

And people shouldnt be forced to save your life
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_Rinku_ posted...

NeuralLaxative posted...

Just call the hospital and haggle, people do it all the time

You shouldn't have to haggle for your life.

Thems the breaks, whole system is fucked. Start capping lawsuits, put some restraints on pharmaceutical companies, lower the cost of education to become a medical professional, cut malpractice costs, increase taxes or force insurance on everyone to cover the pool, and make insurance companies non profit, maybe youd see some change
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KingCrabCake posted...

_Rinku_ posted...

NeuralLaxative posted...

Just call the hospital and haggle, people do it all the time

You shouldn't have to haggle for your life.

And people shouldnt be forced to save your life

They are not forced to save your life. They chose to get in to a profession that requires them to.
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IfGodCouldDie posted...

KingCrabCake posted...

_Rinku_ posted...

NeuralLaxative posted...

Just call the hospital and haggle, people do it all the time

You shouldn't have to haggle for your life.

And people shouldnt be forced to save your life

They are not forced to save your life. They chose to get in to a profession that requires them to.

Yes and if they start being forced to work for a much smaller salary then.....guess what bud
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KingCrabCake posted...

IfGodCouldDie posted...

KingCrabCake posted...

_Rinku_ posted...

NeuralLaxative posted...

Just call the hospital and haggle, people do it all the time

You shouldn't have to haggle for your life.

And people shouldnt be forced to save your life

They are not forced to save your life. They chose to get in to a profession that requires them to.

Yes and if they start being forced to work for a much smaller salary then.....guess what bud

What? No one will want to be a doctor anymore? Just like in every single place ever where there is not a lot of money to be made you'll never find a doctor?
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IfGodCouldDie posted...

KingCrabCake posted...

IfGodCouldDie posted...

KingCrabCake posted...

_Rinku_ posted...

NeuralLaxative posted...

Just call the hospital and haggle, people do it all the time

You shouldn't have to haggle for your life.

And people shouldnt be forced to save your life

They are not forced to save your life. They chose to get in to a profession that requires them to.

Yes and if they start being forced to work for a much smaller salary then.....guess what bud

What? No one will want to be a doctor anymore? Just like in every single place ever where there is not a lot of money to be made you'll never find a doctor?

couple of things. places like tend to have lower cost of living I assume, and two no not everyone would quit wanting to be doctors but a lot would turn away from it. but to be honest I would rather the world go back to people only becoming doctors because they actually want to help people. i'm all for doctors and teachers making a living, but I feel them making as much as they do (on the teachers I mean college professors) is at least partially responsible why this shit is too expensive to begin with america
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Sativa_Rose posted...

AvantgardeAClue posted...

I'm a Uber/Lyft driver and I'd never fucking take anyone that required an ambulance. Something goes wrong you're gonna get blamed for it all. EMTs are paid much nicer for that shit, but more importantly they're trained for it.

They probably wouldn't tell you.

I'd tell by the address, usually.

DrizztLink posted...

AvantgardeAClue posted...

EMTs are paid much nicer for that shit

They really aren't.

Even so, they're actually trained to help out. I'm not having no baby delivered in my car.
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It exist so many examples of both more effective and cheaper health care systems.
Give them a monthly salary, that way they will concentrate on helping their patients instead of taking unneeded tests just to earn more money.
The insurance companies only cares about getting your money and tries to cut costs everywhere they can, just so they can earn more money.
Medical companies waste so much money brib... lobbying that their stuff should be used, so the equipment becomes more costly than needed.
It is all a joke.
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I thought ambulance expenses were covered by the government, or are they owned by private hospitals?
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First world country.

Kazi1212 posted...

I thought ambulance expenses were covered by the government, or are they owned by private hospitals?

nah they cost. best friend back in the day passed out drunk in the parking lot of his apartment complex. neighbors called a ambulance for him. apparently he woke up long enough to tell them he was just really drunk and didn't need help and he woke up the next day with a bill and statement saying he refused medical treatment at the time.
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mooreandrew58 posted...

Kazi1212 posted...

I thought ambulance expenses were covered by the government, or are they owned by private hospitals?

nah they cost. best friend back in the day passed out drunk in the parking lot of his apartment complex. neighbors called a ambulance for him. apparently he woke up long enough to tell them he was just really drunk and didn't need help and he woke up the next day with a bill and statement saying he refused medical treatment at the time.

I bet there's some kind of racket going on where the hospital has people go out and call them for BS reasons and then get someone else stuck with the bill. Then the hospital gets more $.
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Sativa_Rose posted...

mooreandrew58 posted...

Kazi1212 posted...

I thought ambulance expenses were covered by the government, or are they owned by private hospitals?

nah they cost. best friend back in the day passed out drunk in the parking lot of his apartment complex. neighbors called a ambulance for him. apparently he woke up long enough to tell them he was just really drunk and didn't need help and he woke up the next day with a bill and statement saying he refused medical treatment at the time.

I bet there's some kind of racket going on where the hospital has people go out and call them for BS reasons and then get someone else stuck with the bill. Then the hospital gets more $.

idk this was his next door neighbor though. and dude was legit way too drunk, he didn't remember walking 2 miles home, didn't remember stopping at this place to grab a sausage biscuit on the way but had a receipt for one and passed out face first on asphalt. i'm honestly surprised they didn't cart his ass to the hospital just in case of alcohol poisoning and stick him with that bill as well.
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Kazi1212 posted...

I thought ambulance expenses were covered by the government, or are they owned by private hospitals?

Depends where you live. If you live outside a city, you probably have volunteer services.
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I once was in an ambulance, through a blizzard. My mom had to follow close in her car because I was literally dying and she was freaking out. The ambulance stopped at one point and my mom thought I died. As it turned out, they just pulled over because I had to piss.

They're a racket which should damn well be regulated. 90% of those costs are pure bs.
They're all shifty privately owned companies in my area. Come to think of it I can't remember the last time I've seen one with a hospital's or city's name on it.

I would say make laws that ambulances can only be operated by hospitals or community/county/state emergency services. Directly. None of this third party privately owned bs. Those scum answer to no one and are free to mark up costs 1000% and straight up invent fees.
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MI4 REAL posted...

Sativa_Rose posted...

MI4 REAL posted...

my dad lost his 40 year retirement fund thanks to the fucking medical system here.

How?

pacemaker $50k

replacement battery another $50k

Holy hell how did a pacemaker and a battery cost $100K O_o

It's weird though; I've never had any ambulance rides over $700, and I live in Hawaii where I thought everything would be more expensive.
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And people want more systems like this regarding healthcare. Not only the fat cats who benefit from other's misery, but poor people who will get screwed from this.

Brainwashing and propaganda is so insane in this country that regular everyday people are convinced that rich people getting richer is more important than people's lives.
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The real question you should be asking is why do EMTs and paramedics only make on average $13-$17 an hours while ambulance companies charge a fortune to use them? One of the worst pay scales to job ratios Ive ever seen.

A girl at my office had some sort of panic/anxiety attack back around 2012. Someone called the ambulance for her. She later told me that it cost her like $1300 for them to drive her like 3 miles up the street.
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Trayvon posted...

why are people so scare of medical debts. they literally won't do shit if you don't/can't pay it.

like really bro they're gonna chuck you in jail or something because you had to go to hospital cos some drunk driver crashed into you. fuck outta here

yeah besides suing you and getting a judgement against you, then freezing your assets why not?

On that note, don't pay your credit card bills either, not like they can throw you in jail or anything

brandunh11 posted...

A girl at my office had some sort of panic/anxiety attack back around 2012. Someone called the ambulance for her. She later told me that it cost her like $1300 for them to drive her like 3 miles up the street.

Trump is doing nothing to fix this

So much for the Great Again
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mooreandrew58 posted...

IfGodCouldDie posted...

KingCrabCake posted...

IfGodCouldDie posted...

KingCrabCake posted...

_Rinku_ posted...

NeuralLaxative posted...

Just call the hospital and haggle, people do it all the time

You shouldn't have to haggle for your life.

And people shouldnt be forced to save your life

They are not forced to save your life. They chose to get in to a profession that requires them to.

Yes and if they start being forced to work for a much smaller salary then.....guess what bud

What? No one will want to be a doctor anymore? Just like in every single place ever where there is not a lot of money to be made you'll never find a doctor?

couple of things. places like tend to have lower cost of living I assume, and two no not everyone would quit wanting to be doctors but a lot would turn away from it. but to be honest I would rather the world go back to people only becoming doctors because they actually want to help people. i'm all for doctors and teachers making a living, but I feel them making as much as they do (on the teachers I mean college professors) is at least partially responsible why this shit is too expensive to begin with america

Maybe some ortho subspecialties have salaried that affect the healthcare system, but when compared to the cost of running hospitals, tests, drugs, and the overhead involved its a fraction of healthcare costs. Scapegoating physician salaries will not solve anything and will only disgruntle people who are already overworked and shouldered with all of the liability for care
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it's 2018 and people still live in america???
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fuzzylittlbunny posted...

MI4 REAL posted...

Sativa_Rose posted...

MI4 REAL posted...

my dad lost his 40 year retirement fund thanks to the fucking medical system here.

How?

pacemaker $50k

replacement battery another $50k

Holy hell how did a pacemaker and a battery cost $100K O_o

It's weird though; I've never had any ambulance rides over $700, and I live in Hawaii where I thought everything would be more expensive.

pacemaker is open heart surgery. So is the battery change. Or IIRC she got a different model pacemaker.
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Also

one word:

Chargemaster.
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DrizztLink posted...

A guy I know had to get airlifted to Albuquerque.

He owes about 60 thousand for that.

Yep, I got about the same bill. Thankfully Obamacare worked retroactively and wiped it clean. Thanks Obama!
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chargemaster
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This thread pisses me off, brings back painful memories.

Had a ~$600 bill for 4-5 bags of saline water. Looking at the bill it's like they just smack the keyboard until they got a triple digit number starting with one.

Not sure how the fuck a bag of saline water is $128.37 and the next one is $194.56 and the third ends up being 167.43, etc.

Even worse as you can make saline water at home
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