The old man was a problem patient.  Every breath he took was a struggle for life. He was choking to death with his swollen tonsils shutting off 90% of his air supply.  The doctor at the rural hospital told him quite frankly, "Mr. Jones. we don't have the facilities to help you here."

Mr. Jones nodded that he understood.  His suspicious gaze swung over to the two Emergency Transport Specialists who hovered anxiously nearby.  He shuddered at the thought of the two or three hundred dollars they might charge for emergency transport to the next nearest hospital.  Mr. Jones struggled hard for breath then sank back and said, "Okay.  My wife will drive me."  He gasped several times then added, "That will only cost me $20"

"I can't let you do that," the doctor responded.  "Your tonsils are swollen to the bursting point, and beyond.  If they split open on the way, there is no way your wife can take care of you."

Mr. Jones grew angry, and shook his head.  "I could never pay the ambulance bill and I don't intend to try."

The doctor consulted with the wife and discovered the old man was covered by SSI.  He called the SSI office and came back.  "SSI will pay most of the Ambulance bill to the nearest large hospital."

The old man shook his head.  When it came to money, he did not trust the opinions of doctors very much.  He did not trust the doctors here -- or the totally unknown doctors there, and as for the EMT he did not trust them at all. "MOST of the bill" might well leave far, far too much for him to ever repay.  Again he shook his head.  He glanced at his wife.  "Take me home.  I told you I didn't want to come here in the first place.  We can't afford it"

"Would you rather die?" asked one of the MTs.

The old man nodded vigorously in response. 
"Yes!"

"He might prefer going to the VA," said Mrs. Jones.  "They don't charge him anything for treating him."

The doctor hurried off and came back ten minutes later.  "The VA will pay for the ambulance all the way to its front door.  NOW will you go."

Mr. Jones shook his head in sure knowledge.  "The VA will only pay IF -- in the opinion of its doctors -- this is an emergency.  My wife can drive me and it won't matter what they think when we get there."

It took another fifteen minutes to batter the old man down.  Finally he scribbled his signature on the three page form and they hustled him into the ambulance.  He was still muttering, "I'm not going to pay for this," when they strapped him into place for the curve careering ride.

He was wrong.  

After Mr. Jones returned home from his immediate surgery at the VA he was socked upside the head for $1,100 of the bill.  Finding out the ambulance had cost at least that amount almost killed him.  "My life isn't worth that much," he snapped at his wife.  

The old couple waited for the VA to pay the bill. 

It didn't.  

The ambulance service dunned him repeatedly for the $1,100.00.  Finally Mr. and Mrs. Jones went to the VA and asked why the bill had not been paid.  "The ambulance company has refused to fill out our forms correctly," they were assured.

While they stood right there the VA called the ambulance company again and asked to have the bill faxed to the VA.  "I'm writing checks today.  I'll be glad to write a check to you, today."

The Jones family went home feeling that all would soon be well.

Again they were disappointed; the problem was not resolved.  The VA explained.  "I'm sorry to say I still can't pay the ambulance bill for you."

"Why not?"

"Because the ambulance service has already charged SSI for fifteen hundred and twenty two dollars of the bill and the VA policy won't let me pay if some other entity has paid any portion at all on the bill."

Mr. Jones put the phone down and turned to his wife.  "That ambulance company charged us twenty seven hundred dollars for that little trip to the VA."  He shook his head in disbelief.  "If they had just charged the VA then the VA would have paid every cent of the bill.  But because the ambulance service didn't make the bill out right I now have to pay eleven hundred dollars for THEIR mistake!"

Ambulance Service today is a thriving business and obviously we are not talking just a few pennies here.  It wasn't until he began telling friends about the exorbitant fee that Mr. Jones learned just how lightly he had gotten by. 

"I only went half that distance and my ambulance bill was four THOUSAND dollars."   Another friend had ended up with a bill well over five thousand dollars -- "and all they did was take me across town from one hospital to another."

Shudder TWICE before asking the price of an air evac ambulance bill!  Make that THREE shudders.

So yes... when it comes to ambulance service, we are talking big bucks here! Will your insurance cover all this, a whole lot, half, or just barely enough so it could put AMBULANCE SERVICE on the brochures agents use to help you see the bargains that have you panting to sign on the dotted line? It may be time to contact your company from the direct links found on InsuranceRoundUP.com

the end

Lin Stone is the author of 34 books you can download for free from http://www.talewins.com/StoneSoup.htm