That’s the real use of the second amendment, owning a gun with one bullet so you don’t drown in medical debt.
Happened to me recently. I was gushing blood like a B-grade 90s horror movie. I had health insurance and figured this was the exact reason I pay so much for it, so that I have it when I need it. Called for an ambulance since I couldn’t stop the bleeding and didn’t want my car’s interior covered in blood.
Anyway, that ambulance company was out of network according to my insurance. Of course when you call for an ambulance, you have no choice in who picks you up and you have no ability to know ahead of time if it’s covered or how much it will cost.
Easy to see why Americans get radicalized by this shit
Call an ambulance? Fuck that, you drive to the hospital with a ruptured appendix like a real man. That’s what I did.
You joke but I’ve driven to the hospital with 2 dislocated arms because I didn’t want an ambulance bill.
I wasn’t joking. 4 years ago my appendix ruptured while I was laying on the couch watching Frasier. It felt like someone popped me in the belly with a rubber band followed by the worst pain I’ve ever experienced. I made myself get up and go to the bathroom to look in the mirror. I was sweaty and white as a sheet. I called my brother, but he was at work and couldn’t answer his phone. I couldn’t think to call anyone else so I got in the car and drove the 13 blocks to the hospital.
Luckily, the VA covered the hospital bill.
I think it was Gina Yashere (British comedian) who did the math and worked out while she was touring the US, if her leg was cut off, it would be cheaper to take a taxi to the airport, book two last minute first-class seats on British Airways (one seat for her, and one for the leg) and fly home to be treated in the UK than it would be to just go to a US hospital.
Depending on where in the US she is, it might be cheaper for her to go to Mexico.
An asshole literally called an ambulance for me and I told him not to. He said he was doing the right thing. I told him I was able to decide for myself if I needed an ambulance. The ambulance came and tried to tell me they weren’t allowed to not take me. I told them I was calling the police for kidnapping. They didn’t believe me. I called a taxi and bolted into it. Told the cabby I’d give him an extra $20 if he ignored them. Dumbasses. Fuck that guy that called an ambulance for me. Truly.
Do not get an ambulance outside of your county of residence, Americans!! It’s much more expensive than inside your county. Which is already expensive.
MOAR BOOTSTRAPS!
I learned this from watching their emergency services shows. The EMS asks them if they want to be taken to the hospital. They always decline.
I should be laughing at this meme as a Brazilian who inhabits a country with public healthcare with public ambulance (Sistema Único de Saúde and its SAMU, respectively), but then I check our election results from last Sunday and… Welp, good thing I’m practicing Memento Mori in a daily basis and preparing myself (spiritually, physically, mentally, socially, etc-ly…) to cemeteries (if those who’d be left with my cadaver would afford a coffin and a gravesite, it’s a whole other story). Before I leave this Pale Blue Dot as a homo sapiens embodiment, maybe I’ll eventually going to make a Brazilian version of this meme, with a SAMU ambulance instead of the USian one, so I become, like my therapist once recommended me, a Titanic violinist, playing as the whole ship gets swallowed by the abyss, laughing like a hyena as we all meet the cold touch…
!politicalmemes@lemmy.worldi was advised once by a nurse to call an ambulance for myself, but i was so afraid of the cost i ended up ubering to the emergency room. i was in serious pain but i didn’t think i was going to die (and i wasn’t), hence what may seem like a stupid choice. the hospital stay still ended up being $700 dollars after insurance.
It’s like €50 where I live or something. But I just consider it free and not something worth thinking over.
Do not take it for granted. Make sure to defend your right to quality medical care.
Thanks I will.
Usually we choose the “hop in your car and drive double the speed limit there” option.
That’s just good manners.
Reminder that it does not cost any money to call an ambulance. It only costs money if you take the ambulance, which is optional (of course, this assumed that you are able to express your wishes when the EMRs arrive).
It also only costs money if they get your name. If youre fr dying and would like to continue living, give them an alias and dont bring your wallet.
The fact this is a reasonable suggestion is all the evidence anyone from outside the USA needs to realize it’s a shithole country.
Just pathetic.
Absolutely. In an emergency you would not do this.
You would simply ring multiple ambulances, ask for a quote from each, and compare prices and services offered like a reasonable consumer in a free market should.
Nah, they’re just winning more than any other country! Yall tired of all the winning yet?
It’s messed up… healthcare should be free. No one should have to pay a fortune for emergency care.
