Flat Tire Results in $50,000 Bill

[SpecialEd]

Check it out: Diagnosis: Debt—Air ambulance costs local couple $53,000 - https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/investigations/diagnosis-debt/it-can-happen-to-anyone-of-us-an-air-ambulance-ride-costing-53-000

[Steve Butters]

Boohoo... Lessons? Don't ride your tire until there's no meat left on it, and keep yourself insured. These people sound like whiners. 

[SpecialEd]

4 minutes ago, Steve Butters said:

Boohoo... Lessons? Don't ride your tire until there's no meat left on it, and keep yourself insured. These people sound like whiners. 

A hundred bux spent on a tire could have prevented this whole incident. OTOH, let the air ambulance company try to collect. That whole process can become prohibitively costly, too.

My advice: the next time you're planning an accident, check the rates first.

[DerekClouser]

@Wolfman1 had the exact same thing in a crash in 2014.  Ended up taking a trip in a chopper and cost him a significant amount of money too!  I'm not a fan of gov't intervention on a lot of things, but seems like this needs to be a bit more regulated for gouging cause most times, you don't get an option of shopping for an 'in network' service...etc

 

[CBBaron]

Reading the article it sounds like the price is a combination of price gouging for profit but also of private individuals covering the costs that government plans dont cover. Medicaid and Medicare account for most of the trips but pay less than 1/2 the cost of the trip. The companies make up the short fall by over charging the other customers. Of course like any private enterprise they are in the business of making money so the pricing ensures they make a nice profit, despite the underpayment by government agencies. 

So while I agree government intervention to cap prices for a service that is not usually optional would be a good thing, that needs to also include the government paying reasonable rates for those services also.