Off duty lifeguard saves boy, gets a $2600 bill for the ambulance

[Pam]

Where was workman's comp?

[Lemon Drop]

Pam wrote:
Where was workman's comp?

Would that cover him off duty?

It's good that his bills are paid, and the family won't have to worry about that. Better still, he's a hero. And that's my takeaway.

[Wags]

Lemon Drop wrote:
[quote=Wags]
They make a tad bit more than the limit, faulty memory. Still, an extra $1k or more per month for a family of four is really not doable even at just over $46k. My point being there are plenty of responsible loving and hard working parents who are forced to make hard choices. I wouldn't be too quick to place the blame on the parents .

I agree about hard choices. But the insurance for kids in Oregon is not $1,000 a month. It's $50 a month. Similar in Washington, where there is Washington Health Program for families who make too much to qualify for Medicaid or S'CHIP. Qualifying income levels are fairly high, premiums are very low. It's not cadillac insurance but it would cover an emergency such as the one this lifeguard experienced.
I think it's fair to ask why kids aren't covered when these programs are out there.

Low-cost

For the low-cost option, families pay a small portion of the monthly premium on a sliding scale; how much they pay depends on their income. On average, families with two to four children will pay a total of about $50 a month for health coverage for all kids. American Indians and Alaska Natives who qualify for the low-cost option do not pay monthly premiums.

A family of four that earns between $46,300 to $69,380 a year may qualify for the low-cost option.
$1000 deductible, out of pocket expense $6000 - per child. Suppose that something, better then nothing. Better then my bare bones plan with Kaiser that costs me $400/month. It could have been the Oregon Health Plan that she was telling me about. Nice to have a governor that is an MD. Bush did everything he could to scale down the Oregon Health Plan, otherwise we'd all have been eligible on a sliding rate schedule and could have negotiated premiums and services with a pool of several million people.

[Pam]

Did not catch the off duty part. Just skimmed this thread.

[RgrF]

GGD wrote:
There was another case last month where a lifeguard was fired for saving someone's life (just outside his beach area), after the story hit the news they offered him his job back.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/05/us/florida...index.html

That was a private, not government position. To his credit, he refused.

[RgrF]

Publicly funded LAFD ambulances regularly charge $1500+ for emergency runs. I doubt they collect may of these charges so wonder why if they are a tax supported emergency service they do this.

[wowzer]

The vast majority of ambulance services in this country are voluntary units (which charge for their services). Hospital based ambulances also charge for their services. Insurance companies wont pay for many transfers between hospitals. I agree that the whole healthcare 'system' (it really is not a system) is screwed up. I think the reason why costs are so high for ambulances is because they can charge whatever they want. As far as I know, there is no regulation on the amount that pre-hospital services can charge. It is the free market, American way.

The moral of the story? Only call 911 in severe emergencies. If you are well, refuse to be transported, as the costs of am ambulance run ranges from $800-$2000 (or more).