I had to call an ambulance in Switzerland where ambulance prices are freely set by the operator (except in a few cantons which are enforcing reasonable flat rates)
A 5 minutes ride cost 1500.- (more or less the same in USD)
Because I had used a good broker to pick my insurance plan, I was left with “only” 500.- to pay out of pocket for the ride.
In Quebec, as a resident, going 3 blocks in the ambulance cost us about 500 CAD if I remember correctly.
Yeah, I had a Canadian friend who was in a motorcycle accident. He could see the hospital from where he crashed. He begged the paramedics to let him walk, but they judged he should not.
He was billed 600$.
The paramedics' judgment as to whether he should or shouldn't have isn't the debate here. They likely made the safe call.
To add, Switzerland is a little weird with accident vs disease.
If it’s an accident (ie sudden, unavoidable, unpredictable, more or less) it’s great because you have nothing to pay, you don’t even need to worry about the bill and there is no deductible and everything is covered no questions asked.
If it’s a disease, then it’s the regular insurance rules which can be quite arcane and you’re never sure what’s going to be covered and how much.
My transport was from adverse consequences of a surgery and so they deemed it not an accident, and that’s why I had to pay.
Oh wow. They were cool with me they said if we transport you it’ll be expensive. I didn’t have a car, I was living pretty high up a hill, it was midnight, and I had lost quite a bit of blood already so I thought “fuck it I’ll find out how expensive it is once I’m fixed”. But they wouldn’t have charged me if they hadn’t transported me (at least that’s what it sounded like)
I guess I made the right call because I fainted in the ER later from blood loss.
A 5 minutes ride cost 1500.- (more or less the same in USD)
Because I had used a good broker to pick my insurance plan, I was left with “only” 500.- to pay out of pocket for the ride.
In Quebec, as a resident, going 3 blocks in the ambulance cost us about 500 CAD if I remember correctly.