Ambulance Charges in Emergency

When we had to take my daughter to the ER we called 911 who sent out an ambulance. When we got the bill it was about $345. But her insurrance covered the ambulance. Now if we didnt have insurrance it might have been more but i dont know if maybe the mileage has something to so with it. I think we are about 4 or 5 miles from the hospital maybe closer I dont know how long a mile is off hand. It takes us 10 minutes to get to the hospital with no traffic longer with traffic.

I just moved into a new neighborhood and researched this topic. An ambulance transport can cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to over a thousand based upon the type of services we receive during transport - drugs, monitoring, etc. The ambulance company will first bill my insurance company and we would have to pay the remaining balance. However, if we subscribe to the ambulance service ($60 per year where I live) then we would owe nothing and they would accept whatever our insurance offers. If the ambulance company didn't provide an itemized bill maybe you could request one to make sure you were charged only for the services you received and dispute any charges you feel are unreasonable. Hope this helps.

In PA, your friends' homeowners policy or rental policy should be covering your medical bills. She should call her insurance agent and put in a claim for your bills.

Up here that is one thing that suck about living up here. Call the ambo company and ask them if you where to join their membership would the waive the fee. My husband and I has the same problem except our insurance paid everything except the $377.00 and we cant even afford to pay that! Good Luck!

HI F. I ALSO TOOK A TRIP IN THE AMBULANCE. WE GOT A 500.00 BILL. WE COULD NOT AFORD TO PAY IT. TEY DIDNT WANT TO EXCEPT A PAYMENT PLAN WE COULD AFFORD. SO THEN THEY TOOK US TO COURT SAYING THEY WERE GOING TO AUCTION OFF THINGS IN OUR HOME BUT WHEN WE WENT THE COURTS ALLOWED ME TO MAKE THE PAYMENTS I WANTED. BUT A THOUSAND DOLLARS SEEMS AN AWFUL LOT I WOULD CALL AND QUESTION THAT. IF THEY SAY ITS RIGHT AND YOU HAVE TO PAY TRY TO MAKE PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS BECAUSE WHEN I TALKED TO A LAWYER ABOUT MY BILL THEY TOLD ME THEY COULD AUCTION OFF MY THINGS LUCKILY THE JUDGE WE HAD WAS SYMPATHETIC. GOOD LUCK ANY PROBLEMS I CAN HELP YOU WITH YOU LET ME KNOW. STEPH

Did you write a letter explaining to the ambulance company or billing company that you don't have the money that your insurance paid some that you have no way to come up with the rest of the money. I know that some company will do write off if you let them now what is going on or payment plans tell them that you can only afford $5.00 a month. If you pay them something it can't go against your credit.

Hi ...

I used to work at a BlueCross of NEPA and found that most ambulance services will balance bill you. Meaning they want more than the insurance company will pay. Most also aren't part of any kind of network so they can charge you whatever they'd like. I know it's not great but it is true. I would just send them what you can on a monthly basis. As lnog as you are attempting to pay something they can't do anything. I hope this helps.

I have an ambulance bill for $650 that I am slowly paying off. They charge you for the WHOLE trip. Ambulance dock to residence, residence to hospital, hospital back to ambulance dock. It's totally bogus but at least your insurance helped. Unfortunatly mine did not.

Hi Farrah,
My husband is an NREMT where we live. I actually asked him what he thought about this and he told me that alot of ambulance services charge separately for transport of a patient. You said the fire company sent you a bill after you paid 377 dollars. I don't know the rules on this in PA but usually they will work with you on a payment plan. It is possible what your insurance paid was only a portion of the actual bill.

I know that we pay a yearly membership to our local ems/fire co in pa that protects us for any possible ambulance service. There are a couple different levels that you can choose - they cover various people ... just the actual residents, residents and visitors at your house, your family at home and also anywhere else they might be, etc. I know that we subscribe because if you don't you can be responsible for large fees that aren't always covered.

When I had my daughter, we were transported to the hospital by ambulance. She was unexpectedly born at home, before the ambulance arrived. The really did not do any procedures except start an IV and check the baby's apgar. We got a bill for over $800 for me and over $300 for my daughter. The insurance company would not pay it until we fought them on it. Finally they did pay it in full, including transportation charges, after they proved that it was an emergency that we required an ambulance. If you talk with the insurance company about it, they may agree to pay more. Otherwise, they will usually accept a little at a time even if they say they wont. If you are making even a small effort, they will usually leave you alone.
Also, I agree with the person who said your friend's homeowner's insurance should be paying for everything. That is why we pay the outrageous premiums.