Ambulance matters in the US
Unlike the current situation related to ambulance in Japan, the cost regarding ambulance in the US pressures on the livelihood of every citizen more than our image.
In accordance with PBC news on September 24th, 2023, it seems to me that the loophole of “No Surprises Act”, which was implemented in 2022, has greatly influence on them.
Originally, as the medical system in the US differs from the National Health Insurance system in Japan, which is generally called as “universal coverage”, each citizen who enrolls health care programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, or Medicare Advantage Plan has each plan’s network depending on programs. In other words, one plan’s beneficiary generally needs to go to hospitals, doctors and health care providers that belong to the plan’s network. If not, enrollee is necessary to pay out-of-pocket costs related to out-of-network.
The reality sees that in spite of enforcement of new Act, 85% of transports are out of network, with the result that a great number of citizens are in trouble with exorbitant bills. Furthermore, transport costs of out-of-network varies depending on each state.
Taking this turmoil circumstances into consideration, governments of some states began to tackle above financial problems respectively. However, it seems that this pass road to the destination is far from our goal.