American Medical Response
www.amr.net
1055 West Avenue J
Lancaster, CA 93534-3328
(661) 947-2171
Aka Emergency Medical Services Corporation (EMSC)
Unethical billing practices
1. The amount billed is grossly excessive for a 7 mile trip to the hospital
2. This was NOT a life-threatening call as I was able to communicate with your personnel and make decisions
3. I was never informed in advance of the charges for your ambulance services
4. If I would have known I would be grossly and excessively charged for this service, I would have asked before the service was provided. I thought I would have been reasonably billed around $250 to $400 for the service
5. This is the first time in 9 years I have ever used an ambulance service
6. I have a right to know in advance what the charges will be
7. If I was told upfront, I would have refused service and called a family member to take me to the hospital. I had a kidney stone and had a hard time walking.
8. I was given an oxygen mask in the ambulance when I DID NOT REQUIRE any oxygen. If I would have known I was going to be billed for this, I would have refused oxygen because it was not even needed at all.
I have called 5 local ambulance service companies and I was quoted anywhere from $200 and up to $800 for the same 7 mile service, plus $4 to $17 per mile. Your billing is excessive. You also never gave me the opportunity to know of your billing charges and allow me the opportunity to refuse service.
ADDITIONALLY, I called American Medical Response on April 5 at 12:15PM and spoke to Joe, and he quoted me $850 plus $17 per mile, and told me oxygen was included. But American Medical Response sent me a bill charging me for the ambulance, oxygen for $55, and $17 per mile totaling $1242.50. This is highly unethical and fraudulent that you would have such billing inconsistencies and over-charges.
I would never recomend using this ambulance service. They bill you a higher amount ($400 additional) than what their dispatch service quotes you over the phone.
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