Injured woman begs people not to call ambulance because she can’t afford it
A woman trapped between a train and a platform in Boston, with her bone exposed through her thigh, pleaded with bystanders not to call an ambulance, asking them “do you know how much an ambulance costs?”
The accident happened on Friday, and a Boston Globe reporter on the scene described how the woman slipped between the subway train and the platform, trapping her leg. Left “in agony and weeping” as commuters rocked the train back and forth in an effort to free her, she begged them not to call an ambulance, as she said, “It’s $3000...I can’t afford that.”
Twitter post : "Awful scene on the orange line. A woman’s leg got stuck in the gap between the train and the platform. It was twisted and bloody. Skin came off. She’s in agony and weeping. Just as upsetting she begged no one call an ambulance. “It’s $3000,” she wailed. “I can’t afford that.”"
In a series of follow-up tweets this Tuesday, the reporter explained that the woman was eventually freed from the five-inch gap and suffered no broken bones. Sitting on the platform in pain, she was reportedly crying, worried about how the accident would affect her financially.
Emergency personnel on the scene bandaged the unidentified woman’s wound, and sent her to the hospital. While she had no broken bones, they still said her injuries would require surgery.
According to the reporter, Maria Cramer, the woman’s ambulance ride cost her roughly $1,200, still a hefty fee for anyone. That price tag does not include the cost of actual medical care, room and board at the hospital, drugs, bandages, or ay of the myriad of other expenses that make American healthcare among the most expensive in the world.
Cramer’s tweet went viral, and it is being held up as a damning indictment of the American healthcare system.
Twitter post : "Incredibly sad. A woman badly hurt in the Boston subway system begged good Samaritans not to call an ambulance for her. "Do you know how much an ambulance costs?" https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/n...487178921.html …"
Twitter post : "always interesting to watch people from other countries realize what health care is like in America—and Americans explaining it to them. Happy 4th. https://www.reddit.com/r/news/commen...6A&sh=6cfb00a1 …"
Twitter post : "America is the only industrialized country in the world whose political class generally believes it is too radical and extremist to guarantee that people don't die from a lack of basic healthcare."
Twitter post : "My wife just got sick while we were on vacation out of state. Despite having health insurance, we had no idea whether she could see a doctor. She has a PhD. We have money. After multiple calls to insurance, we were still left with an ambiguous answer."
People in the US spend more on healthcare than people in other first-world countries. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, hospital costs in America are 60 percent higher than in 12 other developed nations.
Twitter post : "8/ The injured woman said the ambulance would cost her $3000. EMS tells me the price would have been more like $1200 for someone with her injuries. That's still a hefty price tag."
People insured under Obamacare are not any better off. The lowest priced ‘bronze’ plans came with deductibles of over $6,000 last year, the third year-on rise in a row for consumers that are covered under the state-provided insurance.
