Family talks EMS issues: ‘For it to cost over a grand ... that is insane’
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Riding in an ambulance can be a stressful and traumatic experience in itself. Not to mention the price tag alone can be shocking. For weeks we’ve been telling you about a possible increase in the cost for an ambulance ride in Augusta. Today we talked to one family who says they already can’t afford it as is.
For 8-year-old Angelina Alley being loaded up in the back of an ambulance after breaking her arm was a first.
“They ended up taking us to Doctors Hospital,” said Briana Alley, mother of Angelina.
In the ambulance, they put in an IV, gave her pain medicine, and stabilized her arm. But later found out they were going to have to be moved to the children’s hospital in a second ambulance.
“It was about two hours we waited for the ambulance to come,” she said. “The second ambulance literally did nothing along the way they just transferred.”
Now the family is left with two ambulance bills they can’t afford.
“You know co-pays and all those other things are going to eat us alive,” said Kevin Alley, father.
The first ambulance ride was $1,277.05. The second nearly the same amount at $1,255.
“We had no idea the second was going to cost the same when there was nothing that even got done during it,” Briana Alley. “For it to cost over a grand just to drive her down the road when we could’ve done that is insane.”
Families are already struggling with the current cost of rides. And Gold Cross is looking to possibly increase those fees even more. The base amount for a ride right now is $1,150 but they want to increase that to $1,700.
“I can see it’s frustrating for anybody,” said Kevin Alley.
Gold Cross says the pandemic is driving up costs for masks and gloves to triple the amount. And gas isn’t cheap either costing $8,000 a week.
“I guess it’s just business,” he said.
The provider says the increase wouldn’t impact people on Medicare, Medicaid, or people on a VA plan which is 80 percent of who they serve. But for the Alley family, they’re still left paying the bills.
“It goes to show you that there’s a lot of people who actually need the ambulance rides and they’ll just turn it down because they can’t afford it,” said Briana Alley.
The rising costs of ambulance rides is one side of the issue. The other major problem is slow response times.
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