Taken on ambulance without insurance and substance use

[GH3]

I passed out at a Walmart momentarily for about a few seconds and someone called the paramedics. I was awake when they came and I refused to go knowing I had no insurance, but they told me I had to come because of my heart rate (I was nervous and scared), they said cops were outside so they could get sued, plus I just smoked minutes before entering the store and I didn't want to deal with police either. I got to the hospital and they tried to give me treatment but I refused all of it because I can't afford it, however, they did give me an IV and oxygen (I think) on the ambulance and monitored my heart rate at the hospital. I came out of the hospital that same night without getting treated.

 

Point is I'm stuck with a bill and the medics were informed that I smoked, how will this affect my insurance in the future when I choose to get it? I was technically not admitted to the hospital since I refused treatment.

 

Btw I was in the state of Florida

[d0nnivain]

One of the beauties of OBAMACare is that you can't be refused coverage in the future because of past medical conditions. I don't know if it affects the premiums.

 

 

Why don't you have insurance? I thought it was mandatory for everybody.

 

 

If you need help with the bills you need to talk to the hospital about Charity Care. which is how the bill gets paid when you have no $$

 

 

Perhaps, consider not smoking since it obviously has a bad effect on you.

[Keenly]

If you ever find yourself stuck with a medical bill that you can't get rid of, you need to do some research as to your states medical fee schedule.

 

Providers and hospitals can charge whatever they want for their service. Say they bill you 15 thousand dollars, but according to the fee schedule, those services are only worth 2 thousand. You pay them the 2 and then tell them tthem to screw off and cite the medical fee schedule. There is nothing they can do to stick you with the remainder.

[Clarence_Boddicker]

Gotta love communist America. Government of the people, by the people, for the people. It's kinda funny how so many of our control laws directly financially benefit private companies like ambulances & hospitals. You gotta know how the system works so you can avoid being exploited by it. There's still a lot of loopholes. Never sign any documents. Refuse to give your name. Assume anything a leo tells you is a lie.

 

 

Next time leave your id in your car. Give them a bogus name & social security number.

[GunslingerRoland]

So much irony when the rest of the free world has truly free health care and doesn't run into these issues...

 

But it's a crappy situation if you are forced to pay for the medical care you should be able to turn it down.

 

Lying about smoking to your insurance company is stupid though, they can deny claims over stuff like that. It's better to pay a higher premium than to have all your medical claims rejected....

 

Gotta love communist America.

[Keenly]

So much irony when the rest of the free world has truly free health care and doesn't run into these issues...

 

But it's a crappy situation if you are forced to pay for the medical care you should be able to turn it down.

 

Lying about smoking to your insurance company is stupid though, they can deny claims over stuff like that. It's better to pay a higher premium than to have all your medical claims rejected....

 

I don't think he is talking about cigarettes.

 

But as to your point, that's not necessarily true. If that were the case, an insurance company could deny coverage to a new smoker. That's definitely not the case, as you are begging for bad faith penalties.

[GunslingerRoland]

I guess I'm used to life insurance, where you have to be honest when applying for it, or they will deny your claim.

 

And yeah, duh, rereading I guess it's obvious that it wasn't cigarettes.

[GH3]

If you ever find yourself stuck with a medical bill that you can't get rid of, you need to do some research as to your states medical fee schedule.

 

Providers and hospitals can charge whatever they want for their service. Say they bill you 15 thousand dollars, but according to the fee schedule, those services are only worth 2 thousand. You pay them the 2 and then tell them tthem to screw off and cite the medical fee schedule. There is nothing they can do to stick you with the remainder.

 

That's really useful to know, thank you!

[GH3]

Gotta love communist America. Government of the people, by the people, for the people. It's kinda funny how so many of our control laws directly financially benefit private companies like ambulances & hospitals. You gotta know how the system works so you can avoid being exploited by it. There's still a lot of loopholes. Never sign any documents. Refuse to give your name. Assume anything a leo tells you is a lie.

 

 

Next time leave your id in your car. Give them a bogus name & social security number.

 

Haha Wish I knew that sooner, I didn't show them I'd though, I just gave them some info, they kept telling me that the emt guys couldn't leave without my signature.

[GH3]

One of the beauties of OBAMACare is that you can't be refused coverage in the future because of past medical conditions. I don't know if it affects the premiums.

 

 

Why don't you have insurance? I thought it was mandatory for everybody.

 

 

If you need help with the bills you need to talk to the hospital about Charity Care. which is how the bill gets paid when you have no $$

 

 

Perhaps, consider not smoking since it obviously has a bad effect on you.

 

Well the reason was not the smoking itself, apparently I was dehydrated but the smoke didn't help either. I am a college student so Its actually cheaper for me not to have insurance, $500 a year is nothing compared to the deductibles and copayment honestly.

[PogoStick]

I kind of hate you a bit. $500 is nothing until you get a major medical emergency that costs tens of thousands. Then you don't pay it, declare bankruptcy, ruin your credit, and everyone else pays more to make up your loss.

 

It's another example of why insurance should be single payer from the government because people like you are irresponsible and try to beat the system. Single payer = everyone is covered by government insurance, all of the time, and it's payed for by taxes so you can't cheat.

 

One of the reasons Obamacare has caused prices to rise is because people get insurance, have a very expensive procedure done, and then drop their insurance. They can just pay a few months premiums, pay a $1000 deductible, and have a $100,000 heart surgery, then drop their insurance plan. All the remaining insurance owners get charged to make up those costs.

[Keenly]

I kind of hate you a bit. $500 is nothing until you get a major medical emergency that costs tens of thousands. Then you don't pay it, declare bankruptcy, ruin your credit, and everyone else pays more to make up your loss.

 

It's another example of why insurance should be single payer from the government because people like you are irresponsible and try to beat the system. Single payer = everyone is covered by government insurance, all of the time, and it's payed for by taxes so you can't cheat.

 

One of the reasons Obamacare has caused prices to rise is because people get insurance, have a very expensive procedure done, and then drop their insurance. They can just pay a few months premiums, pay a $1000 deductible, and have a $100,000 heart surgery, then drop their insurance plan. All the remaining insurance owners get charged to make up those costs.

 

That's not really how insurance works.

[CarrieT]

One of the reasons Obamacare has caused prices to rise is because people get insurance, have a very expensive procedure done, and then drop their insurance.

Incorrect!

 

Why have premiums risen so much? There are several reasons. One of them is that the government has mandated that every policy must cover the 10 essential health benefits. As a result, insurance companies no longer operate in a free-market system. Because every policy covers the same items, there is very little flexibility or opportunity for innovation. In other words, insurers cannot tailor a policy like they could in the past. Hence, all policies are basically the same. In an Obamacare-compliant policy, the only variables are the co-insurance and deductible. The percentage of health care expenses covered ranges from 60% in a bronze plan, to 90% in a platinum plan.

 

The new law is not perfect, but neither was the former system. Under the current law, a single male seeking coverage must pay for maternity coverage because it is one of the 10 essential benefits. This is the case despite the fact that a single male will never utilize the benefit. It has nothing to do with insurers getting insurance, having a procedure done, and then dropping the insurance.

[Mrin]

Well the reason was not the smoking itself, apparently I was dehydrated but the smoke didn't help either. I am a college student so Its actually cheaper for me not to have insurance, $500 a year is nothing compared to the deductibles and copayment honestly.

 

Correction: $500/year was cheaper until you actually needed medical care. Now it is a heck of a lot more expensive. Valuable lesson to be learned - health insurance isn't just to cover routine doctor visits but also the unexpected - like when you smoke a drug and pass out in Walmart and then have to refuse every single piece of medical aid that is optional to keep from getting stuck with a massive bill.

 

Next time - get cheap insurance.

[Clarence_Boddicker]

I kind of hate you a bit. $500 is nothing until you get a major medical emergency that costs tens of thousands. Then you don't pay it, declare bankruptcy, ruin your credit, and everyone else pays more to make up your loss.

 

It's another example of why insurance should be single payer from the government because people like you are irresponsible and try to beat the system. Single payer = everyone is covered by government insurance, all of the time, and it's payed for by taxes so you can't cheat.

 

One of the reasons Obamacare has caused prices to rise is because people get insurance, have a very expensive procedure done, and then drop their insurance. They can just pay a few months premiums, pay a $1000 deductible, and have a $100,000 heart surgery, then drop their insurance plan. All the remaining insurance owners get charged to make up those costs.

 

 

The system you're part of is highly irresponsible & predatory. Nobody should be forced to have any"treatment" (usually nothing but an unnecessary examination anyways, but billed as something more) foisted upon them, because some "authority" who has no real medical knowledge deems it necessary. Bogus medical & psych "emergency treatments" like that are ethically wrong, yet highly profitable for the medical industrial complex. As always, the dummy taxpayers usually pay, because most of the victims are uninsured & unable to pay. Why not charge the morons that make the bogus 911 calls for all the costs for these unnecessary responses & "treatments"?

[carhill]

I'd suggest looking into Medicaid as it sounds like you'd qualify. As for the current bill, negotiate it as low as possible and offer a payment plan and consider it a cost at health insurance U and continue building a positive credit rating.

[Keenly]

I'd suggest looking into Medicaid as it sounds like you'd qualify. As for the current bill, negotiate it as low as possible and offer a payment plan and consider it a cost at health insurance U and continue building a positive credit rating.

 

Don't forget OP, no negotiating until you find your states medical fee schedule.

[PogoStick]

Incorrect!

 

Why have premiums risen so much? There are several reasons. One of them is that the government has mandated that every policy must cover the 10 essential health benefits. As a result, insurance companies no longer operate in a free-market system. Because every policy covers the same items, there is very little flexibility or opportunity for innovation. In other words, insurers cannot tailor a policy like they could in the past. Hence, all policies are basically the same. In an Obamacare-compliant policy, the only variables are the co-insurance and deductible. The percentage of health care expenses covered ranges from 60% in a bronze plan, to 90% in a platinum plan.

 

The new law is not perfect, but neither was the former system. Under the current law, a single male seeking coverage must pay for maternity coverage because it is one of the 10 essential benefits. This is the case despite the fact that a single male will never utilize the benefit. It has nothing to do with insurers getting insurance, having a procedure done, and then dropping the insurance.

 

Please explain how your explanation makes mine incorrect.

[PogoStick]

The system you're part of is highly irresponsible & predatory. Nobody should be forced to have any"treatment" (usually nothing but an unnecessary examination anyways, but billed as something more) foisted upon them, because some "authority" who has no real medical knowledge deems it necessary. Bogus medical & psych "emergency treatments" like that are ethically wrong, yet highly profitable for the medical industrial complex. As always, the dummy taxpayers usually pay, because most of the victims are uninsured & unable to pay. Why not charge the morons that make the bogus 911 calls for all the costs for these unnecessary responses & "treatments"?

 

OP lost consciousness in a public place. How is that a "bogus 911 call"?

[Tayla]

There is no law or regulation that requires a conscious person to be hauled off by ambulance if they decline medical transport to a hospital. If you are unconscious that then gets superceded by the medical team . There is a waiver form given to the person on any onsite call. After you declined they should have had you sign it. I declined ambulance transport and prior to them leaving they rechecked my vitals and had me sign the form.

 

Insurance is a tax now... so when I go to any hospital the first 2k are out of pocket expenses. The concept of having medical insurance is a nice idea til you find out you haven't hit your mandated deductable for the offset to kick in. Our hospital has a hardship program and allows even meager payments to pay the bill. I've been blessed with arguing over a four dollar charge for a bandaid. There upcharge is ridiculous.

 

Anyways Op , the ambulance place intimidated you and in the future ask for the waiver form.

[PogoStick]

Incorrect!

 

How is this incorrect?

 

"The company also had to pay bills for 135 people who bought policies, used services and then canceled their policies, she said. A few of those people died, but many of them simply canceled after receiving pricey care, such as having a baby or undergoing hip-replacement surgery, she said."

 

Those people are cheating the system at an average of $25,000 or so, assuming no major complications. Everyone else pays more to cover them.

[William]

Folks, as an advisory, the thread starter hasn't been here in over a week so in my opinion there is enough of a topic to continue without them and I'd suggest it be the effects of medical treatment, facts disclosed to or observed by medical professionals and unpaid medical bills on future application for health insurance.

[Clarence_Boddicker]

OP lost consciousness in a public place. How is that a "bogus 911 call"?

 

 

Because according to him, he only passed out for a second. He was profiled. If it was a woman that fainted & told everyone that she was ok, do you think there would have been a call & response? They violated his rights to make a profit. If he was under the influence, he would have been held for 72 hours. Unless you're an apologist, you know that your field rips people off every day in both billing & unnecessary treatment.