Bill for ambulance?

TG1

Hope I'm in the right place for this one. I've a query regarding billing for an ambulance.

I had an accident on a business premises and an ambulance was called. I was brought to an a&e and subsequently admitted. Since then I have moved out of the address I gave to the ambulance crew at the time, and I'm not sure my old landlord would forward any post.

My insurance was billed for all hospital care but there was no mention of an ambulance in that. I haven't received a bill for it, but I thought I should. If I should have received it I'd hate to not pay it as I really recieved stand out care! I would also hate to think the business was billed as it was my own fault.

Should I have been billed? Is it likely that there was a bill sent to my old address or to the business? If so is there somewhere I can contact to get it sent on?

mr cowen

there's no charge for A/E ambulance service in ireland.

TG1

Thanks, I was told anecdotally that there was a charge and every thing I googled, including citizens information, was pretty vague on the subject. The phrase "you may be charged" was used a lot, which doesn't tell you much!

wrmwit

You have to pay for a fire brigade, not for an ambulance.

punisher5112

What can happen is if there is no immediate ambulance available the fire engine will attend. But there wouldn't be a charge only if call was specific to wanting it.

slinky2000

I got billed for an ambulance last year when I rang one for my little girl who was choking. I think it was 100 euro.

TG1

slinky2000 wrote: »

I got billed for an ambulance last year when I rang one for my little girl who was choking. I think it was 100 euro.

That's the amount I was told by a few people I would be charged, but there has been no mention of it so far.

nikkibikki

slinky2000 wrote:

I got billed for an ambulance last year when I rang one for my little girl who was choking. I think it was 100 euro.

Was that seperate to the A&E charge as that is €100?

slinky2000

I'll see if I can dig out the bill, I'm pretty sure I've still got it and it was for the ambulance.

slinky2000

According to this:

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/health/emergency_health_services/emergency_health_services_in_ireland.html

Unless you have a medical card, you may be charged for ambulance services. However, the practice varies between different parts of the country and charges may be waived in certain cases, for example, in cases of hardship.

DundalkDuffman

slinky2000 wrote: »

I got billed for an ambulance last year when I rang one for my little girl who was choking. I think it was 100 euro.

Nope the 100 is the government charge for A&E it doesn't matter if you're brought by ambulance or rock in under your own steam.
The 100 A&E charge is invalid then in the OPs case if you are admitted whereby inpatient charges are then levied.
The only people paying the 100 are people without medical card and who aren't admitted.
All that said in the event of it being a RTC or anything medicolegal then there are a raft of different charges which are individual to each hospital where solicitors are being involved.

stoller

You don't pay for an ambulance call out. You can get billed alright for calling out a fire tender but this is normally absorbed by car/house insurance. If a fire appliance is dispatched to a medical case you are not charged for the use and time of the fire appliance. It surprises me how many people believe they are charged for every ambulance called out but what they don't understand is that the 100 A&E charge is not for the use of the ambulance but it's the charge for using the services of the A&E and as said above is charged whether you attend in your car or you attend in an ambulance.

To note the above is relating to an ambulance provided by Dublin Fire Brigade, I am not sure about the HSE but I would imagine this is the same.

TG1

stoller wrote: »

It surprises me how many people believe they are charged for every ambulance called out but what they don't understand is that the 100 A&E charge is not for the use of the ambulance but it's the charge for using the services of the A&E.

I know when I went to find out should I have been charged I couldn't get a definitive answer anywhere. Even citizensinformation.ie had the sentence "you may be charged for an ambulance call out". That type of vagueness contributes an awful lot to the confusion id say!

rocky911

Work in for a private health insurer myself..depends on the public hospital..a lot the time they won't bill for an ambulance, really does the depends on the accounts dept.

From my experience of claims, the hospital are normally happy when the bill us the 800 + for the accommodation. Trust me they would have been on to you a lot quicker for payment if you were going to be billed at this stage and you would have had debt collectors at your door..hospitals are like vultures these days for payment.

timmywex

To confirm what others are saying:

• There is no charge for an emergency (999) ambulance in Ireland, in any county. There is €100 A&E charge which some people mix up - you've to pay this if you just walk in too!
• Some counties have charges for the fire service, some don't. If you were in an accident and needed to be cut out of the car for example, they may be required and charge, but the charge is normally covered by vehicle insurance
• Private ambulances do charge, but do not do emergency work. They generally do transfers between hospitals and appointments and the like
• If you request an ambluance in Dublin, from time to time a fire tender may be sent as an initial response as all Dublin firefighters are also paramedics. You will not be charged for this as it is classed as a "medical assist" call by DFB, not a fire call

Schindlers Pissed

It's a pity in some cases there wasn't a charge.....you'd see a lot more resources becoming available.

TG1

Schindlers Pissed wrote: »

It's a pity in some cases there wasn't a charge.....you'd see a lot more resources becoming available.

I have to say I would happily pay a bill after the care I got, especially if it meant cutting down on the 45 min wait spent lying on damp sand in the middle of November! To be fair though, I know the problem of waiting times is a huge one that runs into more than just people calling for slightly less urgent reasons.

piperh

We had an ambulance out tonight, well 2 actually because the first responder was in a car as the ambulance itself was a further 10 mins away. I have to say I would happily pay for the service as right from the 999 call they were amazing.

stoller

timmywex wrote: »

To confirm what others are saying:

• There is no charge for an emergency (999) ambulance in Ireland, in any county. There is €100 A&E charge which some people mix up - you've to pay this if you just walk in too!
• Some counties have charges for the fire service, some don't. If you were in an accident and needed to be cut out of the car for example, they may be required and charge, but the charge is normally covered by vehicle insurance
• Private ambulances do charge, but do not do emergency work. They generally do transfers between hospitals and appointments and the like
• If you request an ambluance in Dublin, from time to time a fire tender may be sent as an initial response as all Dublin firefighters are also paramedics. You will not be charged for this as it is classed as a "medical assist" call by DFB, not a fire call

Spot on from what I can read.

Bang Bang

Can I just add that there is some very accurate information given here. But I will add, and it has come up here before, that I have seen a charge for an ambulance on a hospital invoice.

A friend approached me a while back asking about this as they had been charged for an ambulance, I completely doubted him, but he showed me the invoice from a HSE hospital and separate to the ED charge there was an ambulance charge for €120. I advised him to query it as it was news to me, but as he was very happy with the treatment he received from the ambulance service and hospital that he paid the full invoice. I have no idea where this further charge went, as in which HSE budget it ended up in.

Just for the record I work in the NAS and this friend was taken to hospital by the NAS and treated in a HSE ED and I seen the physical invoice he received.

If you do get a charge for a public ambulance then do query it.

mr cowen

ive seen similar invoice with jcm in blanch and the client was brought in by dfb, this is wrong and as you say should be queried.