Why American ambulance rides are so expensive
A San Francisco man was billed over $12,000 for a short, non-emergency ambulance transfer between hospitals following a minor accident. Despite insurance coverage, he was left personally responsible for nearly $3,000 due to out-of-network billing practices.
Why it matters
This highlights the ongoing issue of surprise medical billing and the high costs of emergency transport in the U.S. healthcare system.
In July 2023, a 25-year-old man named Jagdish Whitten was out for a run in San Francisco. As he crossed a busy street, a car hit him; he did, in his words, “a little flip” over the vehicle, landed in the road, and dragged himself to the curb. Those who had seen the accident called an ambulance for him. But Whitten waved them off and called a friend, who drove him to a nearby hospital instead: “I knew that ambulances were expensive,” he said, “and I didn’t think I was going to die.”
The article presents a factual account of a personal experience with medical billing without overt political commentary.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in