# Is it true that when you call an ambulance for someone, you have to pay for it? (need answer fast) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 23, 2016, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-when-you-call-an-ambulance-for-someone-you-have-to-pay-for-it-need-answer-fast/766621 "2016-09-23T04:24:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-when-you-call-an-ambulance-for-someone-you-have-to-pay-for-it-need-answer-fast/766621/201 "2017-05-05T12:28:19Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > There is no wait time in US to see specialist **unless you are in town or in the country** \*\* or some small city\*\*. You can see specialist in two to three days a weak at the most. > > It is unheard of waiting a month or two month to see a specialist. > > Same thing for surgeries booked in the US by the doctor in two to three days a weak at the most. > > Waiting a month or two month for surgeries is unheard. To Quote from the previous Article giving Facts: > [@](#): > > This one’s a little bit tricky. The truth is, Canada may “ration” by making people wait for some things, but here in the United States we also “ration” — by cost. > > An 11-country survey carried out in 2010 by the Commonwealth Fund, a Washington-based health policy foundation, found that adults in the United States are by far the most likely to go without care because of cost. In fact, 42 percent of the Americans surveyed did not express confidence that they would be able to afford health care if seriously ill. Did you factor the numbers of Americans who don’t get the Treatment they Need because they can’t afford it into your “shorter waittimes” calculation? Because if not, you’re comparing apples to oranges: everybody who Needs getting surgery, but non-urgent have to wait vs. only those who have the right insurance getting surgery, but very fast. I also wouldn’t want the hassle of dealing with bills - getting them from the doctor, Hospital, dozens of different sub-Groups like radiologist, lab, pharmacy -; filling out the insurance forms; copying everything (in case files are “lost”); sending them to insurance, where maybe the Person assigned to my case lets them wait for a month; getting angry phone calls by hospitals etc because the bill isn’t paid yet; spending time on the phone with the insurance Company about when will they pay the bill; arguing with the insurance Company about why the refuse to pay for a Treatment; … Such a waste of time and energy when the health issue itself eats up enough time and emotional energy on its own. Here, we just Show our health insurance Card and deal with getting healthy. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-when-you-call-an-ambulance-for-someone-you-have-to-pay-for-it-need-answer-fast/766621/202 "2017-05-05T12:43:30Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > The consensus appears to be that where the US system excels over the Canadian, is in providing specialist services. However, part of that may be through economies of scale - if one wishes to treat a rare disorder, it is far easier to put together a team or institution to do this where the population is far greater (and so the number of that rare condition is far greater). I don’t have any figures to support that, though. This maybe a Problem for Canada (and Australia) because of geographic Isolation (relative) and low Population numbers. In the European countries, there are Centers for specialisation, too - where the US has the Mayo clinic and similar that are leading in certain fields, Berlin has the Charite, and France has one or two Special clinics, so People from one Country with a rare disease go to the Center for that one, even if they have to cross a border. In the EU countries, all EU citizens have now one health insurance Card, so a German being treated in France doesn’t pay extra. Furthermore, the EU has for some time now paid for a Project called “Orphaned diseases” where diseases that are rare but serious, not worth the private Research that common diseases get, are specially funded so they, too, can be researched. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-when-you-call-an-ambulance-for-someone-you-have-to-pay-for-it-need-answer-fast/766621/203 "2017-05-05T12:48:05Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > And in any case, it is pointless to compare how well a healthcare system works for the well-paid because the answer will be, no matter where in the world or the system used, things are fine. The wealthy will always be fine. > The true test of the system is how well it works for the disadvantaged. It is an ideological and, I believe, a moral question. Well, some People - like apparently Dr. Deth - follow the rule of “If it works for me personally, the System is good (screw the rest, I don’t care)” Under that rule, he is right, the US System is better for him than the UK one. Most People with a smidgen of either empathy with fellow humans; enough recognition to realize it’s luck and not being a good Person that determines your health; or just cool-headed enough to look at the national numbers of cost, lives ruined, debts accumulated that could all be spent on more productive things, take the rule that “the System that benefits the most People with least cost is good”. Under that rule, all health care System in modern industrialized nations except the US is better than the US. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-when-you-call-an-ambulance-for-someone-you-have-to-pay-for-it-need-answer-fast/766621/204 "2017-05-05T13:05:37Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > No thanks at all I would keep the US shitty health care system over free healthcare UK, Canada and Europe over month or two month waiting list there to see specialist, surgeon or get surgery done. Except that you haven’t given proof that These wait times are a) true - we’ve had anecdotes about wait times all over the range, and non-right-wing-scaremongers articles repeatedly state that the Long wait times in non-US countries are myths, not real, or for medical reasons (somebody who Needs an elective surgery like breast will get pushed back before urgent surgeries) The usual comparision are average wait times, as compiled by the hospitals/ doctors or health insurers (though Nava pointed out the Problem in the Details of how it’s counted) b) a fact of the System itself, and not a fact of Distribution - both in US and Canada/ Europe, rural regions struggle to get enough doctors, so longer wait times or Long driving times, but big cities are usually well supplied with doctors, which means shorter wait times; and super specialists who get cases from all over the Country may have month-long wait times but are worth it because they are the best of the best (from doing a Special procedure twice a day instead of five times a year, so People prefer to wait). c) again, what good is a low wait time for the doctor if your insurance Needs 5 weeks to approve the procedure? Or if the pool of approved doctors is so small you have to drive 5 hours to get one? Or if your copay is so high you can’t afford the procedure? It only makes sense to say “I can’t accept longer wait times, so therefore I reject the whole System, even if everything else is better” if you belong to the “Works for me, screw everybody else” set (and ignore the damage done to the economy and the Country itself by letting People go untreated for circumstances beyond their control). ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-when-you-call-an-ambulance-for-someone-you-have-to-pay-for-it-need-answer-fast/766621/205 "2017-05-05T13:09:44Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > So what are these really long ER wait times in UK and Canada I hear way more than the US? Myths made up to scaremonger? Remember that famous US newspaper with its article during the Obamacare debate about “death Panels” in the UK, and how if Stephen Hawking had been Born in the UK, the state would never have approved paying that much? Hawking wrote a nice letter saying basically “Hey Folks, I was Born in the UK, and got Treatment all my life through NHS, and am thankful and grateful for the good Quality. True, with my additional income from my books I can afford additional Services (extra nurses etc.) but I’m thankful I never had to deal with sth. like the US System. (And no death Panels)” ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-when-you-call-an-ambulance-for-someone-you-have-to-pay-for-it-need-answer-fast/766621/206 "2017-05-05T13:11:48Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > Also what are these shortages of specialists and surgeons I keep hearing about in UK and Canada? Link [5 Myths About Canadian Health Care](http://www.aarp.org/politics-society/government-elections/info-03-2012/myths-canada-health-care.html) Look at some Facts instead of bullshit lies from fear-mongers. Don’t Forget the other “All foreigners come to the US for medical Treatment, so we are the best!” myth that’s trotted out often in These discussions. Well, no. You simply don’t see the many Arabs coming to UK and Europe for our specialists. You don’t see Americans going across the border to Mexico when they can’t afford US Treatment. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-when-you-call-an-ambulance-for-someone-you-have-to-pay-for-it-need-answer-fast/766621/207 "2017-05-05T13:13:18Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > Around a month ago I smashed my elbow; this was at night. The right arm hung useless and the broken bones scraped each other. The ambulance took a long time, but eventually I was in hospital and in the early morning had a 3-hour operation, with extra inserted metalware there. 2 nights in hospital with loads of drugs and now casts and fortnightly visits to the hospital. Ouch. That sounds nasty. I hope it healed well? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-when-you-call-an-ambulance-for-someone-you-have-to-pay-for-it-need-answer-fast/766621/208 "2017-05-05T16:50:09Z")
**constanze** , do you realize this is a zombie thread and you’re replying to posts made at least six months ago? ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-when-you-call-an-ambulance-for-someone-you-have-to-pay-for-it-need-answer-fast/766621/209 "2017-05-05T17:18:55Z")
Eighteen times in a row, no less? Good gods, nobody needs to be heard that badly. ---
**Author:** ![Grim\_Render](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@Grim\_Render](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Render)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-when-you-call-an-ambulance-for-someone-you-have-to-pay-for-it-need-answer-fast/766621/210 "2017-05-05T17:34:48Z")
> [@Weisshund](#): > > The money i get taxed for healthcare (which yes, it is quite a bit every month) is not for my healthcare. > It goes to pay for the healthcare of those who are elderly and retired, and those who can not afford healthcare. > Possibly i could use it when i get more elderly, maybe, that’s debatable. > > To purchase healthcare for myself, yes i have to pay again, but what i paid the 1st time was not for me. That was rather my point, at least as far as I can remember it. Working people in the US pay more taxes towards government healthcare than workers in the average Western nation, but do not receive healthcare for their money. In the rest of the developed world most pay less money and all get something back. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-when-you-call-an-ambulance-for-someone-you-have-to-pay-for-it-need-answer-fast/766621/211 "2017-05-05T18:35:00Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > **constanze** , do you realize this is a zombie thread and you’re replying to posts made at least six months ago? Ups. No, I overlooked that. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-when-you-call-an-ambulance-for-someone-you-have-to-pay-for-it-need-answer-fast/766621/212 "2017-05-05T20:00:49Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > Ouch. That sounds nasty. I hope it healed well? Slowly getting better; still in a cast but paracetamol keeps the pain away. But I appreciate not having to deal with bills for care. A 3 hour surgery would cost a lot out of pocket. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-when-you-call-an-ambulance-for-someone-you-have-to-pay-for-it-need-answer-fast/766621/213 "2017-05-05T20:38:03Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > **constanze** , do you realize this is a zombie thread and you’re replying to posts made at least six months ago? Well it was free. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-when-you-call-an-ambulance-for-someone-you-have-to-pay-for-it-need-answer-fast/766621/214 "2017-05-06T00:19:39Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > Slowly getting better; still in a cast but paracetamol keeps the pain away. But I appreciate not having to deal with bills for care. A 3 hour surgery would cost a lot out of pocket. :eek: Here’s a wish for continued good healing! ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-when-you-call-an-ambulance-for-someone-you-have-to-pay-for-it-need-answer-fast/766621/215 "2017-05-09T02:59:26Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > This was featured rather extensivly on the News and on this board some years back: fire dept. was called to a rural housefire, after the “protection fee” had been introduced some time back in that area. Once the firefighters established that no neighbouring house was in danger, but that the house owner hadn’t paid, they stood around and watched the house burn down. The house owner wanted to pay the fee on the spot, but they refused, explicitly stating they wanted to make an example, because otherwise everybody would only pay in case of fire. Because of this problem, Vic.Aus legisltated a 100 years ago( ???) that all home insurance campanies would pay a fire deptment levy. So everybody got fire service. Fire brigades were still semi-volunteer, organised on the same lines as football clubs (you did try-outs, and got match payments, and the brigade had an area and was affiliated with the organising group), until the 1950’s. About 10 (???) years ago they finally got rid of the link between insurance and fire brigades, and we have fully socialised fire deparements in the metropolitan area now. Rural fire departments are still partly community supported, but they aren’t such bastards that they’d stand and watch a neighbours house burn just because they didn’t like him. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-when-you-call-an-ambulance-for-someone-you-have-to-pay-for-it-need-answer-fast/766621/216 "2017-05-20T19:39:21Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > That’s not really accurate. In Canada the details vary by province but in general ambulance services are substantially covered by the provincial health plans. Unlike other health care services for which there is no co-pay, you may incur a co-pay for the ambulance but you certainly won’t pay $1200. There are a couple of provinces where it can run as much as several hundred dollars, but in Ontario it’s just a $45 co-pay that is rolled into the non-insured part of the hospital bill, like a private room or TV service. And even that is waived for a large category of patients exempt from ambulance fees – for example, elderly persons receiving home care services and many others with special needs are exempt from the co-pay. The Ontario $45 copay is intended to reduce the type of abuse of the system noted above. There is no charge for inter-hospital transfers, for residents of nursing homes or other care facilities, or for anyone on social assistance. Note that if you are a tourist or visitor not covered by Ontario or other provincial healthcare, you will be charged the FULL ambulance fee of **$240**. :eek: I cannot see how the US ambulances can justifiably charge such humongous fees (even if they include subsidizing everyone who cannot or does not pay plus all the administrative crap plus profits on top of everything). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-when-you-call-an-ambulance-for-someone-you-have-to-pay-for-it-need-answer-fast/766621.md?page=10)