My wife and 3 kids were attacked by bees earlier this summer (everyone is OK…thanks!) and they were taken to the hospital in 2 ambulances.
We just received the bill from the ambulance company, and there are 2 charges per person - life support and mileage. The problem is that they charged mileage for all 4 patients, even though there were only 2 ambulances.
We have called the ambulance company do discuss this, and they won’t budge because “that is just the way they do it.” Do I have any recourse? I don’t want to pay for services that I never received? I’m not sure where to go from here.
And, if it matters, they charged $29.25 per mile, and the hospital was 20 miles away (so I feel that they overcharged me by about $950). Also, this was in California if there are any specific laws that pertain to this.
It is standard to charge for mileage on ambulance claims. This covers the physical vehicle, like gas, maintenance, wear-and-tear, and so forth.
If you have insurance, they will more than likely cover this, which makes it their problem, not yours. If you do, and the claim wasn’t submitted to them, make sure the ambulance company has that information so the insurance can be billed directly. If they won’t do that, submit it yourself.
Who did you talk to at the ambulance company? Most billing clerks don’t have authority to negotiate any kind of reduction in payment. Your best bet is to talk to a supervisor or the owner of the company.
Wow.
I’ve paid for two ambulance bills in Ohio in the last 2 years.
One was $500, even, and one was $325.
The $500 was flat fee, the $325 was $300 worth of “ambulance” and $25 worth of “mileage”.
I don’t have an answer to the OP, but the pure vehicle costs of operating even the largest, least cost-effective ambulance (the variety with a front end based on a tractor-trailer or school bus chassis) are probably under $2/mile.
The labor costs appear to be no more than $27/hr per EMT. <1>
Assuming 4 EMTs per ambulance and 30 MPH, labor doesn’t run the operation more than $4 per mile.
I have no idea if this is legal or not, but it does seem pretty darned high.
If you have medical insurance, they may be able to tell you if they have any guidelines as to what is usual and customary in your area.
The California Department of Consumer Affairs ( www.dca.ca.gov ) says nothing more than to contact your local consumer agency, by which I can only assume they mean the Better Business Bureau.
You might want to give the DCA a call at 800-952-5210 for clarification.
One possibility is to send payment for the mileage you think is right (per vehicle rather than per person) and when this is questioned, simply say “Well, that’s the way I do it.”
There is nothing unreasonable about saying, in effect “If you’re quoting charges per mile driven, then I’m going to pay per mile driven - charging me per person is an obvious error.”
No, you need to go over her head and speak to the owner of the company.
A representative of the Department of Consumer Affairs in Sacramento gave me the following information:
The state Ambulance association’s number is: 915-735-0154
The California State EMS Authority number is: 916-322-4336, and their website is: www.emsa.ca.gov.
Consumer Affairs regulates most medical providers in California, but not ambulance/EMS services. The two organizations I gave above, and particularly the second, should be able to help.
If ambulance companies overcharge, and the insurance companies pay it, then said insurance companies will raise their rates. You pay it now, or you pay it later. In a specific incident like this one, you’re not shoving the problem off on some nameless, faceless, corporation–you’re spreading it around to a bunch of other folks just like yourself.
Arrosen is taking the more responsible approach of trying to fix the problem rather than pawn it off on other people.
No, because he has a contract with the insurance company. They pay the bill, arrosen pays the difference.
That said, I’m sure the insurance company would be very interested in this ambulance company. They have a fraud division that investigates overcharging and improper billing. Try talking to them, too.
I agree that $29.25 per person per mile is excessive. At the ambulance company I work for, if we transport more than one patient, the base charge and mileage are split between the patients (2 patients, 3 patients, etc.). Of course, we also charge $12/loaded mile.
Was it a public or private ambulance? If it’s public, try talking to your elected officials (or even if it’s private- they have contracts they need to keep). If it’s private, you could try the Better Business Bureau, as well.
Now that I think about it, it’s worth getting in touch with the government one way or the other. If it’s a private, find out who is in charge of contracting them, Sheriff, Fire Dept, Public Health Dept, there may be contracted rates. One of our jurisdictions limits how much we can charge for a base rate and mileage.
Lastly, I’d consider calling the company back and trying to talk to someone else. I’m surprised that they’re not willing to work with you. There’s such a high rate of non-payment in the ambulance industry that most companies are happy to get anything. We have one account that’s getting paid off at $5 a month!
St. Urho
Paramedic- who just spent a few days in the billing department on light duty.
They offerred a 15% discount if I paid it immediately on a credit card. They are a private company, and I will find who maintains the contract…I will also see if my insurance company has any ideas.
By the way, my insurance company has already paid them nearly $5,000…this was to transfer 4 people (hurt, but not critical) 19 miles in 2 ambulances. Clearly I’m in the wrong business.
We had to call for an ambulance within the last month. The charge was a flat $500 plus $25/mile, making it $950 total. And, yes, the charge was for the ambulance – if we’d crammed a dozen people inside it would still have been just $25 per mile.
BTW, although I gulped when I saw the bill, I have no quarrels with that pricing structure. It costs a lot of money to have that ambulance staffed and ready at a moment’s call. The equipment is expensive and requires maintenance. Likely they have a lot of downtime the salaries continue to accrue. Would you prefer a situation where ambulances shut down during slow periods? Not me.
After I had my heart attack, I was billed for 400$ for ambulance services. My insurance didn’t cover it, and I wasn’t working of course. The ambulance had a county name on it so, (In my ignorance) thought it was a service of the state.
Found out different.
If for some reason one cannot pay her/his bill, will they come pick you up a second time?
I believe (although IANAAmbulance Biller) that for a public (city/county owned/run) ambulance it’s like the Emergency Room at a hospital - they can’t turn you down. However, I don’t know about some of the private ambulance companies, though, unless they’ve contracted with the municipality & are doing “public” runs. If it’s a transportation run (from facility to facility), I suppose they could turn you down, but I don’t know that they would.
Indyellen is correct. Any ambulance that responds to a 911-call is obligated to transport that patient regardless of their ability to pay. In some situations an interfacility transport could be refused. It depends on the reasons for transport. Also, the only time I ever find out about insurance/payment info before turning a patient over to an ER is if they tell me. We don’t ask.
Another factor in the costs is the high rate of non-payment for 911 ambulance transports. I used to work for a company that covered a large (~300,000) city. They collected on 48% of transports :eek:
Yes, they pay the bill. Then, when they calculate what they’ll charge their customers next year, they factor in all of their payouts. When you stiff your insurance company, it won’t cost them anything. They’ll pass it on to you (and me, and the next guy) next year. You’re not screwing the insurance company, you’re screwing your peers.
I wish more people would understand this. The insurance company proceeds don’t come from mythical money trees. We all pay the piper for this kind of exhoribitant bills. I’ve been in the insurance industry for over 20 years and the general public continues to believe that “it’s not their problem” when an insurance company is involved.
The correct path would be for the OP to continue to move higher up in the food chain until someone can either correct the bill or show him/her in writing where they have the authority to charge mileage per person. Even if the ambulance service isn’t subsidized by tax dollars, by all means contact your local politicians for help. Our ambulance service is an unsubsidized private organization; however, they must contract with the city for their fees and services.
