Not sure where to turn

So a couple weeks ago while I was working my bg went too low and emergency services were called. So an ambulance from the building next door came. All the emts did was give me 1
Glucose tube. Not a second tube, no glucagon, no iv, no ride, nothing else. So at the very very most that could have been spent on the call is $10. And while we were sitting outside my work, the emt said there would be no charge. But yesterday I got a letter in the mail from the city saying I owe $535. I don’t have that kind of money sitting around! Work comp won’t cover it because they deem diabetes is basically a pre existing condition, and so not their responsibility, even though we didn’t have enough coverage for me to take my 15 minute break. So now I have this $535 bill to pay, and not sure where I’m going to get the money for it.

Call the number on the bill and plead your case. They may reduce the amount and give you a payment plan.

Along with the suggested response of calling to plead your case also speak to your employer and see if they can help cover some of it. Legally your are suppose to have breaks. If they didn’t allow you to take your break then they should be held accountable for part of the consequence.

Inquire with the EMTs next door.
They should know this.
And yes, follow thru with the bill people.

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Generally, if they don’t transport, then they dont charge, but this must have been a city ambulance. Any chance it gets billed through insurance?

I agree, I would walk next door and ask. Its good learning for them if they are unsure.

Contact the American Diabetes Association for legal assistance. Do you have health insurance? Why aren’t they billed? If you do forward this letter to them. But I will say an ambulance call no matter how short or small used staff, sorry but health care costs a lot. And I agree with you it should of been a minimum charge. Hope things work out for you. Nancy50

They do usually charge whether they transport or not. But most ambulance companies or hospitals that use them, will have a financial assistance application. Seek assistance from any entity involved. Blessings!

There should be a case number on your bill. Using that you should be able to receive the names of those who responded to the call. You were told you would not be billed by one of those people, try to figure out which one it was. They could help advocate with you, if they knew what they were talking about. I hope everything works out for you!!

I try and be a good person and do the right thing but city hall is a den of thieves anyway so who cares. I would just ignore it if its not the ambulance company taking the loss.

Did you sign that you got the letter ?

Most people don’t know they can just throw red light tickets in the trash cause they have no way of proving you ever got the thing and there is no law requiring anyone to check mail on a regular basis or even own a mailbox.

@mohe0001 inost of California, if an EMT rolls to your location, whether you requested it or not, you get to pay for it.

There is generally a huge price difference between city ambulances and private contractors that the cities also use. Example: SF FD ambulance rolls to your location. Cost =$419 flat rate . If a city contracted ambulance rolls = $1000/mile point to point plus ancillary charges. Point to. Point means you pay costs from wherever the ambulance was staged, then to you, then to bispi8, and finally back to staging location. All @ $1k/mile. Why the disparity? One word… Insurance.

I can vouch for much of the SFBay Area being priced this way (I have conducted field studies over the last 20 years, lol). I have heard that SoCal is similar, but have no experience there.

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wow