r/HospitalBills • u/Fit_Employee_9673 • 21d ago
Ambulance bill (Bells)
I received an ambulance bill for 3k. I had taken my 2yr old to urgent care for breathing issues and she was unable to be off oxygen and had to get transported to the hospital.
However, I remember when they asked me they said “you could drive her though I’m sure you don’t want to” or take the ambulance. Given the fact that her oxygen would not stay above 85 without oxygen I felt uncomfortable driving her for 35min so I opted for the ambulance.
Now I have this bill which I will clearly need to dispute, but have no idea how to state “it was medically necessary”.
For reference, I had to take her to urgent care 2mo later and they stated “we cannot let you leave if her oxygen levels are this low” - is this the fault of the urgent care not demanding the need for the ambulance?
I hate with all of my being the situation we are always in regarding health insurance - this entire system can eat a d*ck.
10
u/voodoobunny999 21d ago
Regrettably, you are probably stuck with the bill. Medical necessity has nothing to do with it and ground ambulances aren’t covered by the No Surprises Act. Ground Ambulance companies rarely contract with health insurers because they would have to discount their services for essentially no benefit—nobody looks up which ambulance company is in-network when their child can’t breathe. They dial 911.
At this point, the best thing to do is contact the ambulance company and see if you can talk your way into a discount. Just know that you have very little leverage. You might also call your Congressperson and tell them to cover ground ambulances under the No Surprises Act, but I wouldn’t hold my breath (sorry for the bad pun) waiting for that to happen. It was a fundamental error to exclude ground ambulances in the first place.