Ambulance ride costs in Massachusetts add insult to injury

When a medical emergency necessitates an ambulance trip to the hospital, the last thing the patient or their family needs to worry about is cost.

In Massachusetts, those fears are more than warranted.

According to an upcoming report from the state’s Health Policy Commission, emergency transportation in a publicly owned ambulance here costs about twice the national average.

Nationwide, commercially insured patients pay an average $761 for an ambulance trip from a municipally owned emergency medical services company, compared to a $1,578 charge in Massachusetts, researcher Diana Váscones told the HPC’s Market Oversight and Transparency Committee at a meeting on Wednesday, State House News Service reported.

Adding insult to injury, “ground” ambulance services, as opposed to costly air ambulances, are not included in federal protections under the No Surprises Act, to prevent “surprise bills” from emergency medical care. Since patients don’t have the ability to choose which ambulance picks them up in an emergency, they often end up with these surprise bills if the ambulance provider is not in their insurance network.

Talk about sick. People with insurance provided by employers have to reach a deductible until payments kick in, and there’s often an out-of-pocket “ceiling” as well. Those who try to save money on premiums by opting for higher deductibles face sticker shock at the worst time.

We have some of the best hospitals in the world, how can getting to one in an emergency come with prohibitive costs?

“There’s just no rationale at all for calling an ambulance, being in a medical emergency and then not knowing how much it’s going to cost or finding out later on that it was an unaffordable thing,” committee chair of the Market Oversight and Transparency Committee David Cutler said.

Back in 2018, the story of a Massachusetts woman drew national attention after she begged people not to call an ambulance for fear of high hospital costs after she was injured in a subway accident.

“Do you know how much an ambulance costs?” the injured woman asked one passenger, The Hill reported.

This was an indictment on ambulance costs in the Bay State, and yet here we are, nearly five years later, addressing the disparity between prices.

How many in Mass. put off calling for an ambulance when they’re injured or suffering from chest pains? How many turn to Uber for a trip to the emergency room?

This is unconscionable. This looks like a job for Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

The Democratic lawmaker has targeted surprise medical bills on Capitol Hill, and positioned herself as a champion of consumer rights. She has touted health care reform for years.

Her constituency needs her to go to bat against catastrophic ambulance costs in Massachusetts. Warren can take on nationwide prices if she’s got a 2024 White House run in her sights — it couldn’t hurt.

But the people in her home state need some political muscle to get these costs under control. No one should ever have to refuse an ambulance because they’re afraid of the bill.