Wellness

[CatsyCline]

Has anyone disputed an ambulance bill?   I had surgery in Dec and 36 hours after the surgery hospitalists told me i could no longer stay in the H and could not go home.  They wanted me to go to a SNF. I had a neck fusion and was given heavy pain meds. [9 weeks post-op still have neck pain]     I still had drains in and could barely get out of bed yet they still wanted me out of that bed and they quickly pulled all the drains out!

An ambulance came to take me to the SNF . I did not request the ambulance. Well they must have driven all over creation because it took over an hour to get the SNF. Yet a car drive to the Hospital takes about 35min.  When we got to the SNF the ambulance attendants put me on a transport chair, unceremoniously dumped me on a bed and left without triaging or whatever w/ any staff.

Anyway the bill is for over $900 but insurance paid some but not all of it.  I'm questioning the charge for the mileage too.  Seems like they padded the miles.

[SXMGirl]

@CatsyCline  I have no idea how much an ambulance costs; but, where I live and the ambulance and fire departments are volunteer, we contribute $50 a year to each.  That covers any situation where they are needed at my home.  You might want to look into that in your town.

[CatsyCline]

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@SXMGirl wrote:

@CatsyCline  I have no idea how much an ambulance costs; but, where I live and the ambulance and fire departments are volunteer, we contribute $50 a year to each.  That covers any situation where they are needed at my home.  You might want to look into that in your town.

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 the dispatch wasnt made from my house. the hospital contracted w the ambulance company whch is based at the other end of our state,

[itsmetoo]

@CatsyCline 

That's a bargain compared to what my bill was.  Nine years ago I was taken by ambulance just a few blocks and it was over $1500.  Highway robbery if you ask me.

[CrazyDaisy]

Hospitals usually require medical transport to another facility, you can not just have a family member take you.  They are also just there for transportion, the Hospital should have sent over any information the facility needed.

As far as the cost, don't know.  There may have been a traffic issue that required the detour.  Can't hurt to ask.

[Foxxee]

Who ordered the ambulance?  You say Hospitalists were taking care of you.  They work for the hospital.  One most likely had someone call an ambulance for you.  

Your hospital should have a Patient Advocate department.  Call to see what can be done about this.

I disputed a charge for my father once.  The hospital dropped the charges. 

[Katcat1]

@CatsyCline  That's insane.  I have gone by ambulance many times to the hospital.  It's $300.  I have supplemental insurance Humana Gold HMO.  Also, I always go through the fire dept. and not a private ambulance so that may make a huge difference.

[jlkz]

@CatsyCline 

As for the # of miles, ambulances cannot go over train tracks.  And, as another poster mentions, there may have been detours that caused the increased mileage.

[Pancho]

@CatsyCline 

Last summer I was in the hospital for 25 days due to complications after surgery.  I had to then go to a rehab facility in order to regain my strength that was literally 3 blocks from the hospital.  The hospital called for an non-emergency ambulance transport.  I was billed $900.00 for that and my insurance covered none of it.  I was so frigging mad!!!  I had no recourse and just had to pay for it out of pocket.

In the future, make sure taking an ambulance is very necessary because a lot of times it is not covered by insurance and many people are not aware of that, including myself.  You think because you have insurance it's covered but most of the time this is not the case.

I learned a very costly lesson as I didn't challenge the hospitals decision to have me transfered by ambulance.  If I had known the cost in the beginning I would have made other transportation arrangements.

[Vivian]

As a lifelong asthmatic, I was told that if I ever had an attack, I should call an ambulance and NOT have friends of family try to drive me to the hospital, half an hour away. About 15 years ago it happened. We followed doctors' orders and called an ambulance, assuming they'd arrive promptly and start treatment on the way to the hospital.

WRONG! It took 45minutes for the ambulance to arrive. I do not live more than 10-12 minutes away from any town, village or hamlet. Fortunately, my meds at home kicked in so that by the time I reached the ER, more than an hour later, I was OK. I will remember that experience if I need to consider calling an ambulance in my town. If my husband had sped me up to the local hospital, i'd have been there in 15 minutes.