I think it was Gina Yashere (British comedian) who did the math and worked out while she was touring the US, if her leg was cut off, it would be cheaper to take a taxi to the airport, book two last minute first-class seats on British Airways (one seat for her, and one for the leg) and fly home to be treated in the UK than it would be to just go to a US hospital.
An asshole literally called an ambulance for me and I told him not to. He said he was doing the right thing. I told him I was able to decide for myself if I needed an ambulance. The ambulance came and tried to tell me they weren’t allowed to not take me. I told them I was calling the police for kidnapping. They didn’t believe me. I called a taxi and bolted into it. Told the cabby I’d give him an extra $20 if he ignored them. Dumbasses. Fuck that guy that called an ambulance for me. Truly.
I learned this from watching their emergency services shows. The EMS asks them if they want to be taken to the hospital. They always decline.
MOAR BOOTSTRAPS!
Do not get an ambulance outside of your county of residence, Americans!! It’s much more expensive than inside your county. Which is already expensive.
I should be laughing at this meme as a Brazilian who inhabits a country with public healthcare with public ambulance (Sistema Único de Saúde and its SAMU, respectively), but then I check our election results from last Sunday and… Welp, good thing I’m practicing Memento Mori in a daily basis and preparing myself (spiritually, physically, mentally, socially, etc-ly…) to cemeteries (if those who’d be left with my cadaver would afford a coffin and a gravesite, it’s a whole other story). Before I leave this Pale Blue Dot as a homo sapiens embodiment, maybe I’ll eventually going to make a Brazilian version of this meme, with a SAMU ambulance instead of the USian one, so I become, like my therapist once recommended me, a Titanic violinist, playing as the whole ship gets swallowed by the abyss, laughing like a hyena as we all meet the cold touch…
[email protected]i was advised once by a nurse to call an ambulance for myself, but i was so afraid of the cost i ended up ubering to the emergency room. i was in serious pain but i didn’t think i was going to die (and i wasn’t), hence what may seem like a stupid choice. the hospital stay still ended up being $700 dollars after insurance.
America has medical bankruptcy at a rate seen nowhere else in the world.
Roger Marshall, a US senator (and medical Dr gynecology) sent dozens of patients (moms) to jail for debt collection as little as $100 and he will likely win reelection in Republican Kansas despite this being a front page story.
America effectively sounds more and more like a feudal state run by different landlords who in turn answer to oil barons and CEO Marquis.
I mean, at least he won’t ve practicing medicine anymore
How much gyneacology can you even get for $100, and would you really want it?
I think you only get one finger for $100.
Depends on if you like getting blasted by an old man for no reason as modern gynos don’t do that anymore.
They do lots of different types of procedures.
Usually we choose the “hop in your car and drive double the speed limit there” option.
It’s messed up… healthcare should be free. No one should have to pay a fortune for emergency care.
“Ambulance” doesn’t even enter the conversation in my circles. It’d be like suggesting we take a private jet. “Just dying” is an equally ridiculous option. Everyone should know both basic first aid and how to steal a car
I like you. You get it
One time I got struck by a car while on foot. It flipped me over the top and broke a few things, including cracking a vertebrae in my neck. The fucker driving probably thought they killed me because they hit the gas right afterwards and sped away.
When the ambulance came I tried to argue against getting in it. Told them I’d drive myself if I didn’t feel better after a night. It’s hard to argue when you’re all twisted up on the ground, tho. Anyway, that EMS wasn’t having any of my shit.
On the gurney I went and off to the most expensive 1 mile trip of my life.
How are you presently?
Struggling with chronic discomfort and limited mobility from crumbling disks in the lumbar region. But that’s just getting older, unfortunately. The price of bipedalism, I suppose.
Thank you for asking.
A little pissy it happened so early since I’m not even 50 yet, so it feels like I got robbed of at least 10 years of my active life.
On the other hand, fair trade. I’ve survived quite a number of things that should have taken me out if it weren’t for luck or hardiness. I bounced back from that hit and run pretty quickly. Fell a few stories out of a tree once. I’ve also survived a tornado that went directly over me and collapsed the building I was in. Fought a guy in jail who was about 250 lbs of pure muscle (lost that one, lol, got a trip to the hospital and concussion for my trouble), almost froze to death one night (was literally wavering back and forth between the land of eternal sleep and life before I peeled myself off the ground and stumbled my way through a snow storm for shelter) another hospital trip for trying to save one of our customers in the middle of a city wide riot and bar fight (I was in the local newspaper for that. Earned a punctured lung and some broken ribs). Accidentally released a bunch of chlorine gas into an apartment complex (I could feel the vapors on my skin when I ran in to shut everything off, shoo). A few other manglings not worth going into detail about.
Knock on wood, turns out I’m pretty hard to kill.
Anyway, long story short, I’ll take a little genetic back pain in light of the tremendous luck I’ve had since none of my misadventures left me with any permanent damage.
Good thing, too, healthcare costs are the deadliest thing out there.
I wonder exactly how many Americans die every year from not seeking medical attention due to the cost.
Looks like it’s about 68,000 a year or about 186 a day
https://insuredandmore.com/how-many-people-have-died-due-to-lack-of-healthcare
Living under crippling debt is pretty rough. The same people concerned about ambulances often can’t afford treatments for serious conditions, either.
Also they probably wouldnt need an ambulance if they were able to get regular checkups and early diagnosis
It’s like €50 where I live or something. But I just consider it free and not something worth thinking over.
