• KevonLooney@lemm.ee
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        8 months ago

        In other countries, the ambulance is free. They’re just sitting there waiting around unless you use them, like firefighters. It makes no sense why it costs so much.

        Do you ever have to decide if you want to call the fire department? No, it’s “see smoke, call fire department”.

    • Rakonat@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      US Medical Costs aren’t racked up by the complexity of the work or care being given, its by how many people are scheduled to see you, diagnose or provide care. Each of them has a set rate per appointment, so the 200,000 figure for a kidney stone that was confirmed by multiple different specialists is not far off. A broken arm at the ER is basically the trauma nurses, an emergency medical specialist, a surgeon or two, anesthesiologist and their respective teams. The more departments you get passed around to the more your bill goes up.

    • lolcatnip@reddthat.com
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      8 months ago

      Probably not for what OP described, but that’s pretty close to the amount they billed my insurance when I broke two bones in my arm.