Cities with Uber Have Lower Rates of Ambulance Usage
I injured myself and needed to go to the ER. The injury wasn't life threatening, but I definitely needed to go to the hospital immediately.I called an Uber.I don't have the time or expertise to do the months of legalese and calculus it would take me to understand my insurance policy, so I have no idea how much an ambulance ride would have cost me. $0? $400? $15000? None of those numbers would surprise me. As best I can tell, insurance companies throw a dart to decide whether you're covered or not, and then the healthcare provider makes up some insane number if you aren't.The Uber got me to the hospital faster than an ambulance would have, for less than $10, and I knew it would cost less than $10.The injury, though extremely gruesome and painful, only warranted an x-ray, some tylenol, and an ace bandage.I'm insured. They sent me a bill for over $900. For taking a picture, and giving me tylenol and an ace bandage.I view insurance as a tax my employers pay to the American healthcare system to be compliant. When I have my end-of-life event, whatever that is, I fully expect a choice between death, and living a little longer in bankruptcy. I'll probably get treated outside the US or choose death.The system works if your net worth is somewhere above $5 million. For everyone else it's just the mechanism that sends everything you earned back to rich people right before you die.Or maybe I'm wrong! I hope I'm wrong. The stack of papers is 4 inches high so I'll never know, but I sure hope so.