I live in the US. My spouse has been taken to the hospital by ambulance at least 5 times, probably more. Most of those times he had pneumonia, he’s quadriplegic and asthmatic, he couldn’t breathe and needed to lie flat and get oxygen, not sit in his wheelchair or a car seat. The other time was a GI bleed from a botched surgery. So all the ambulance trips ended with him being “admitted” and staying in the hospital from a few days to five months. Every time, the insurance covered the ambulance. Being admitted is the qualifying event.
Insurance has also covered non-emergency ambulance rides home, because they don’t wait until he’s fully well to send him home, and the hospital doctor prescribed it.
Do we spend out the ass on insurance premiums? Yes, because we know we’re likely to need the best coverage. It’s our biggest monthly expense.
Would universal government-sponsored healthcare be better? Fuck yes.
Would it be gutted like a fish every time the GOP was in power? A good reason to vote them out and keep them out.
But I’ve driven myself to the ER, because I could still safely do so, and often a Lyft can do the job just as well, if you can sit and don’t need medical support to keep from dying on the way there.
“Bleeding out” would require an ambulance, “bleeding” might not. Will the ambulance driver probably decide they need lights and siren? Yeah, you should be calling 911.
Do be kind and protect the driver/vehicle from anything messy or contagious. If you expect the ER will probably be able to treat you and send you home without a hospital stay, it’s unlikely the ambulance will be covered.
And if you’re one of the millions with no insurance because our stupid job-based profit-oriented system makes it unaffordable? My heart breaks.
Kristi Noem would probably come shoot you for free.
I live in the US. My spouse has been taken to the hospital by ambulance at least 5 times, probably more. Most of those times he had pneumonia, he’s quadriplegic and asthmatic, he couldn’t breathe and needed to lie flat and get oxygen, not sit in his wheelchair or a car seat. The other time was a GI bleed from a botched surgery. So all the ambulance trips ended with him being “admitted” and staying in the hospital from a few days to five months. Every time, the insurance covered the ambulance. Being admitted is the qualifying event.
Insurance has also covered non-emergency ambulance rides home, because they don’t wait until he’s fully well to send him home, and the hospital doctor prescribed it.
Do we spend out the ass on insurance premiums? Yes, because we know we’re likely to need the best coverage. It’s our biggest monthly expense.
Would universal government-sponsored healthcare be better? Fuck yes.
Would it be gutted like a fish every time the GOP was in power? A good reason to vote them out and keep them out.
But I’ve driven myself to the ER, because I could still safely do so, and often a Lyft can do the job just as well, if you can sit and don’t need medical support to keep from dying on the way there.
“Bleeding out” would require an ambulance, “bleeding” might not. Will the ambulance driver probably decide they need lights and siren? Yeah, you should be calling 911.
Do be kind and protect the driver/vehicle from anything messy or contagious. If you expect the ER will probably be able to treat you and send you home without a hospital stay, it’s unlikely the ambulance will be covered.
And if you’re one of the millions with no insurance because our stupid job-based profit-oriented system makes it unaffordable? My heart breaks.
Kristi Noem would probably come shoot you for free.