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1martini t1_j9t8k1s wrote

Reply to comment by C0NEYISLANDWHITEFISH in FDNY wants to up the cost of ambulance rides by more than 50% by NYY657545

How do you charge someone financially or criminally though? If they won't give you any information, your options are to either release them and never see any money, or call the police and never see any money; not to mention the countless legal and ethical issues with trying to legally charge people who use medical services.

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It's not just people who call 911 for fun, it's drug addicts who repeatedly overdose and will never pay, and people without health insurance who call an ambulance and go to the ER for routine issues. You can't just deny care because they won't pay, there's an obligation, both legally and ethically, to treat and stabalize them, yet you're never going to see a dime from them.

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C0NEYISLANDWHITEFISH t1_j9tlwqe wrote

I don’t think anyone is saying deny care to people. I think it’s that if it’s determined to be medically egregious to call an ambulance for something, then they’ll be charged for it.

Either way, even if they didn’t implement that, it doesn’t change the amount of abusive 911 calls in the system, so why punish those who carry insurance or give their real info? Seems by not making it free for all, it continues to encourage those who abuse the system to use it while discouraging those who might truly need it - a worst of both worlds situation, right?

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