Woman billed over $3,000 for ambulance ride lasting less than two miles

Photo of the bill worth $3,419.60 was shared on Reddit in a thread called ’midly infuriating’

(Representative) A user on Reddit has said that she received a bill of over $3,000 for 1.8 mile ambulance ride (Alamy)

A woman on Reddit has shared a photo of an ambulance bill of over $3,000 for a ride of 1.8 miles, sparking fury against the cost of emergency healthcare in the US.

The photo of the bill worth $3,419.60 was shared on Reddit in the thread “Midly Infuriating” by a user who went by the username u/Aggressive-Green4592.

The user, while anonymous, has identified as a woman in other posts.

She said she received the bill for her father’s ambulance ride, who subsequently died.

She said that her father had Veterans Administration (VA) benefits and was being transferred from a VA-approved facility to the hospital for heart failure.

She said in comments under her post that her father had died and VA refused to cover the ambulance costs.

“He’s passed already, VA has denied payment for it twice, I’m not power of attorney or anything. I don’t care to pay it,” she said.

She said in another comment that she will not be paying the ambulance cost.

“I’m not paying it, not only am I not the power of attorney he’s passed. Plus he shouldn’t even have this bill, he had VA benefits this was being transferred from a VA approved place to the hospital.”

She added that she got the bill on Tuesday again after denials from the VA.

“I just got it yesterday, it has been denied twice, last denial being 1/20/22,” she said.

Users on the thread expressed outrage over the cost of emergency healthcare, adding their own experiences.

“One time our insurance refused to cover my mother’s ambulance ride because the ambulance provider was ‘out of network.’ Like we have a choice as to what ambulance shows up. The US is crazy,” wrote one user.

“I got slammed with a $5000 bill for a covid test (nose swab) because of this one,” said another user.

“An Uber at surge price would have been less expensive,” wrote another user.

According to a study by the University of Michigan in 2020, 79 per cent of patients who took a ground ambulance for a medical emergency could face a “surprise bill” because their ambulance provider was not in their insurance network.

This could cost upto $550 on average.

The study also found that 72 per cent patients who took helicopters or planes to the hospital could be on the hook for surprise bills up to $20,000 per ride.

The No Surprises Act enacted in January 2022 sought to protect against such bills but health associations have raised concerns about the ambit of its coverage.