[ASLplease]

My wife fainted at a pharmacy the other day, and when she came to, she was in no condition to walk or drive. An ambulance arrived and took her to the ER, the ambulance attendant DID NOT STAY with her. It was a small towm, took the attendant less than 20minutes total. We are in the process of relocating to a new province, and currently dont have extended medical coverage.

Anyways, I recieved a $600 bill today for something a $20 taxi cab driver could have done

I need some advice:
- do I have to pay it?
- what happens if I dont?

Edit: I have no work or private coverage, just the basic provincial coverage.

Edit: the store called the ambulance

Edit: the attendant never informed my wife of the cost, and the paperwork wasnt filled out until they reached the ER

[Choban]

Welcome to the land of free healthcare eh
If you don't pay it they will hound you and hound you and hound you, I don't know if they can have revenue canada hound you as well but they might.
I'd suggest calling them and working out a payment plan, do you not have any work or private coverage?

[andyt]

Yes
They'll send collection agents after you.

If a cab driver could have done it, you should have called a cabbie - that guy is lucky to be making minimum wage, so you could have profited off his low income.

What are you winging about, don't you believe in paying your own way?

[Choban]

I'm under the impression that it was the store staff that called the medics

[PublicAnimalNo9]

I'd call 'em up first to see if it's a typo. I know from my experiences in Southern Ontario at least that a typical ambulance trip costs around $60-$80

[ASLplease]

Sure, i believe in paying a reasonable fee for a reasonable service, this is neither, and they certainly did NOT tell us in advance that there was a $600 fee associated to their good kind smiling service.

[ASLplease]

sorry, no typo, its says 600. but I could ask like you say, PA9.

[andyt]

You didn't have coverage, so you gotta pay. That's how it works. In BC it would have cost you $530 if you're not covered by MSP, which is probably the true cost of maintaining this service. Medical care is expensive. Hey, you make good coin, you're not one of those lazy minimum wage workers you went on about, so pay up.

This is non-socialized medical care - you believe in that, don't you?

[ASLplease]

PublicAnimalNo9 wrote:

I'd call 'em up first to see if it's a typo. I know from my experiences in Southern Ontario at least that a typical ambulance trip costs around $60-$80

you might have helped me look in the correct place, I checked to see what the rates are and I found:

Resident
$134.52

Non-Nova Scotian
$672.57

My wife's license and medical card was not changed to NS. I'll have to check to see if she still qualifies as a NS residant because we have a paper trail that shows that she had been already been living in NS a shor while before this incident happened.

[Brenda]

Let me guess, Alberta? I remember a story of a fellah (female fellow ) immigrant, who went to the hospital by ambulance when she was pregnant, or had just delivered her baby, I forgot, and had to pay $300. She was floored, since in our (Dutch) opinion, that is just standard medical care, thus covered.

MSP,
Andy, isn't that what you pay $108 for per family every month, that is mandatory?

[PublicAnimalNo9]

$530??? Wow, there's a large disparity in what one pays for ambulance service across Canada. I never would'a guessed

[PublicAnimalNo9]

ASLplease wrote:

PublicAnimalNo9 wrote:

I'd call 'em up first to see if it's a typo. I know from my experiences in Southern Ontario at least that a typical ambulance trip costs around $60-$80

you might have helped me look in the correct place, I checked to see what the rates are and I found:

Resident
$134.52

Non-Nova Scotian
$672.57

My wife's license and medical card was not changed to NS. I'll have to check to see if she still qualifies as a NS residant because we have a paper trail that shows that she had been already been living in NS a shor while before this incident happened.

Oh cool. I sure hope I helped you out there. I know I'd be in shock over a $600 ambulance bill too Good luck

[ASLplease]

andyt wrote:

You didn't have coverage, so you gotta pay. That's how it works. In BC it would have cost you $530 if you're not covered by MSP, which is probably the true cost of maintaining this service. Medical care is expensive. Hey, you make good coin, you're not one of those lazy minimum wage workers you went on about, so pay up.

This is non-socialized medical care - you believe in that, don't you?

I personally think that any private service should require proof of a written or verbal agreement of the service, and the cost. heck, if I buy a pop from an out of province convenience store, they tell me the price and I pay it, any shenanigans that would have the gumption to send you a bill for 5 times the reasonable cost, ought to get a written agreement from you.

[andyt]

PublicAnimalNo9 wrote:

$530??? Wow, there's a large disparity in what one pays for ambulance service across Canada. I never would'a guessed

That's for people not insured in BC. If you are you pay $54 for the first 40km and then a mileage charge. So in the city it's basically $54 - probably less than a taxi would cost you for 40km.

There is a large disparity in what services are covered across the country, what premiums you pay, etc. That's why we should have a national health plan with equal coverage across the land, no premiums and no worries when you move to another province.

In BC, Mr's ASL would have had to have been a resident for 6 months before she qualified for coverage.

[andyt]

ASLplease wrote:

andyt wrote:

You didn't have coverage, so you gotta pay. That's how it works. In BC it would have cost you $530 if you're not covered by MSP, which is probably the true cost of maintaining this service. Medical care is expensive. Hey, you make good coin, you're not one of those lazy minimum wage workers you went on about, so pay up.

This is non-socialized medical care - you believe in that, don't you?

I personally think that any private service should require proof of a written or verbal agreement of the service, and the cost. heck, if I buy a pop from an out of province convenience store, they tell me the price and I pay it, any shenanigans that would have the gumption to send you a bill for 5 times the reasonable cost, ought to get a written agreement from you.

You should have asked the price - buyer beware and all. If you jump in a taxi and say drive me to the hospital, are you going to say you won't pay because he didn't tell you the cost before hand?

Are you saying that other taxpayers should foot the bill that you incurred? If you're poor, I'm sure they will forgive your bill. If you're not, pay what you owe.