It's not even a joke.

If they die, put two cheeseburgers on their eyes. It's payment for the mobility scooter in the underworld.

America has medical bankruptcy at a rate seen nowhere else in the world.

Roger Marshall, a US senator (and medical Dr gynecology) sent dozens of patients (moms) to jail for debt collection as little as $100 and he will likely win reelection in Republican Kansas despite this being a front page story.

An asshole literally called an ambulance for me and I told him not to. He said he was doing the right thing. I told him I was able to decide for myself if I needed an ambulance. The ambulance came and tried to tell me they weren't allowed to not take me. I told them I was calling the police for kidnapping. They didn't believe me. I called a taxi and bolted into it. Told the cabby I'd give him an extra $20 if he ignored them. Dumbasses. Fuck that guy that called an ambulance for me. Truly.

"Ambulance" doesn't even enter the conversation in my circles. It'd be like suggesting we take a private jet. "Just dying" is an equally ridiculous option. Everyone should know both basic first aid and how to steal a car

True. My buddy was dying of heat exhaustion and we were honestly discouraging him to get a helicopter rescue on the hike. We ended up getting the helicopter though

I think it was Gina Yashere (British comedian) who did the math and worked out while she was touring the US, if her leg was cut off, it would be cheaper to take a taxi to the airport, book two last minute first-class seats on British Airways (one seat for her, and one for the leg) and fly home to be treated in the UK than it would be to just go to a US hospital.

I wonder exactly how many Americans die every year from not seeking medical attention due to the cost.

One time I got struck by a car while on foot. It flipped me over the top and broke a few things, including cracking a vertebrae in my neck. The fucker driving probably thought they killed me because they hit the gas right afterwards and sped away.

When the ambulance came I tried to argue against getting in it. Told them I'd drive myself if I didn't feel better after a night. It's hard to argue when you're all twisted up on the ground, tho. Anyway, that EMS wasn't having any of my shit.

On the gurney I went and off to the most expensive 1 mile trip of my life.

It’s messed up… healthcare should be free. No one should have to pay a fortune for emergency care.

Just let me bleed out in the back of your SUV...

i was advised once by a nurse to call an ambulance for myself, but i was so afraid of the cost i ended up ubering to the emergency room. i was in serious pain but i didn't think i was going to die (and i wasn't), hence what may seem like a stupid choice. the hospital stay still ended up being $700 dollars after insurance.

I should be laughing at this meme as a Brazilian who inhabits a country with public healthcare with public ambulance (Sistema Único de Saúde and its SAMU, respectively), but then I check our election results from last Sunday and... Welp, good thing I'm practicing Memento Mori in a daily basis and preparing myself (spiritually, physically, mentally, socially, etc-ly...) to cemeteries (if those who'd be left with my cadaver would afford a coffin and a gravesite, it's a whole other story). Before I leave this Pale Blue Dot as a homo sapiens embodiment, maybe I'll eventually going to make a Brazilian version of this meme, with a SAMU ambulance instead of the USian one, so I become, like my therapist once recommended me, a Titanic violinist, playing as the whole ship gets swallowed by the abyss, laughing like a hyena as we all meet the cold touch... !politicalmemes@lemmy.world

Living under crippling debt is pretty rough. The same people concerned about ambulances often can't afford treatments for serious conditions, either.

I learned this from watching their emergency services shows. The EMS asks them if they want to be taken to the hospital. They always decline.

Happened to me recently. I was gushing blood like a B-grade 90s horror movie. I had health insurance and figured this was the exact reason I pay so much for it, so that I have it when I need it. Called for an ambulance since I couldn't stop the bleeding and didn't want my car's interior covered in blood.

Anyway, that ambulance company was out of network according to my insurance. Of course when you call for an ambulance, you have no choice in who picks you up and you have no ability to know ahead of time if it's covered or how much it will cost.

Easy to see why Americans get radicalized by this shit

Call an ambulance? Fuck that, you drive to the hospital with a ruptured appendix like a real man. That's what I did.

Do not get an ambulance outside of your county of residence, Americans!! It's much more expensive than inside your county. Which is already expensive.

Reminder that it does not cost any money to call an ambulance. It only costs money if you take the ambulance, which is optional (of course, this assumes that you are able to express your wishes when the EMTs arrive).

Edit: typos

MOAR BOOTSTRAPS!