A word of warning about Rural Metro Ambulance Corporation
I have finally had it with Rural Metro. I have had enough complaints from my clients about them that I am beginning to wonder if this is even a legitimate company.
Like most states, Arizona has a statute that allows ambulance services to charge for their services even if the person they treat was not the person who called them. (It’s A.R.S. 36-2239.) There are obvious policy reasons for this law — ambulance companies perform services for people who are unable to request them, and the ambulance employees need to be able to focus on aiding wounded people, not on getting paid.
But there is room for abuse in this system, and I am starting to wonder if Rural Metro might be taking advantage of it.
A client of mine complained to me that when Rural Metro came to his aid after he suffered a minor bicycle/car collision, he rejected their assistance. He had already phoned his wife, who was on her way, and he was not badly injured, mainly just scraped up. He had not called Rural Metro, but apparently the Sheriff’s Deputy who responded to the collision had done so.
Some time later, as my client was preparing to leave the scene with his wife, he says a Rural Metro employee came up to him and swiftly put a band-aid on him. He asked the man if he would have to pay for that service, and the Rural Metro employee assured him that he would not.
My client then went home with his wife. The next week he got a bill from Rural Metro for $912.49.
I called Rural Metro to dispute this bill. The woman I spoke with, Lisa, made a big show — it seemed rather staged — of doing an investigation to see if the bill was legitimate. But then she let out a sigh and said, oh, well, this call was from a Sheriff’s deputy, so if I had a problem with the bill, I would have to take it up with the Pima County Sheriff’s Office. Mmmhmm. Right.
She then informed me that even if my client had not been treated at all, even if he had rejected all treatment, they would still charge. I thought that was strange. I had not researched the exact wording of the statute, and I believed her, but it seemed odd to me that they could charge even if the injured person successfully rejected their aid. I asked her if Rural Metro would charge my client even if he had left the scene and they had never even laid eyes on him. She assured me that they would still charge him.
After I hung up I researched the law, and of course it does not say that. You have to be either transported or receive “basic life support services” in order to be charged. Lisa had not told me the truth. I wonder how many non-attorneys she has told this to over the years? How many people like my client have called to challenge their bill, but have given up after hearing this tall tale from Rural Metro employees?
In my case, Rural Metro has not backed down. They say they did provide “basic life support services” to my scraped-up client who actually wanted nothing to do with them. And they also say they do not ever negotiate a charge down. It’s a flat $912.49, and you can either pay it or watch your credit rating tank. They do, however, assure me that Lisa’s error was very unusual, and that they will speak with her so she does not tell people that any more. My problem is that the tone of every conversation I have ever had with Rural Metro — there are many — causes me to suspect that, on the contrary, Lisa was performing her job exactly as she has been trained to perform it.
So beware, readers. If you don’t think you need that $900.00 band-aid, make sure you have witnesses while you plead with Rural Metro to leave you alone and go away. If you need them, or think you might need them, they are probably good to have by your side, but if you don’t, they can be awfully expensive.
And don’t believe what they tell you on the phone.
–Erik Ryberg
May 13th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
So, are you pursuing the case?
May 13th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
I had a strange interaction with them recently. I have never used or heard of them.They called with an automated message frequently, which I ignored. Then a person called and quoted a ref number. I called them back, hoping I could get them to stop calling. I called them and a woman started asking me questions about who I was ‘to verify my identity’. I told her I would not answer these questions because I had no idea who rural metro was, and we were at a stalemate.
The calls continued. Finally I received an honest to gosh person call me. I explained that I had no idea why they were calling me. The guy thought maybe he had the wrong person. I gave him my age, which seemed to be enough info for him and the calls stopped.
I wonder if they had a debt and plucked my name out of a phone book or something in an attempt to collect the debt.
May 14th, 2010 at 10:37 am
So if they ‘treated’ him with a bandaid after he refused care, isn’t there some kind of medical malpractice thing going on? What if they had stuck hime with a needle or given him an injection without his consent?
May 14th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Ha. If you are in thier fire district and fail to pay subscription fee, the fire they’re called to put out can run 5 fiqures and up. They are not alone. I caught Southwest Ambulance charging helicopter wait fees(hundreds billed in 20 minute increments).
Please Eric, set the punitive precident:( and sign me up for the class action.
May 14th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
“He had already phoned his wife, who was on her way, and he was not badly injured, mainly just scraped up. He had not called Rural Metro, but apparently the Sheriff’s Deputy who responded to the collision had done so.” (TBL, 5-13-2010)
Wouldn’t we ask Dupnik about deputy behavior?
May 16th, 2010 at 1:05 am
Thanks for this disturbing look at what seems to be an abuse of the statute. I won’t be riding outside of the city limits any time soon.
May 16th, 2010 at 9:21 am
I know this post is about possible questionable practices of Rural Metro, but I couldn’t help but wonder…
Since the car driver’s insurance isn’t involved, we can assume it was either a hit-n-run (i.e. won’t be investigated), the driver was uninsured (but at least recovery for that bill is still possible), or that the cyclist was (or at least determined by the responding deputy to be) at fault?
On the off chance that it’s the latter, and the deputy and ambulance employees were called out and engaged for some period of time because of something the cyclist did, wouldn’t an ethical cyclist feel some responsibility to compensate them for that? It turned out that his injuries weren’t serious, but the ambulance co. didn’t know that when they responded – to roll a truck full of high-tech medical equipment and at least two techs for an hour or so ain’t cheap, but its absolutely priceless when it turns out to be really needed, so don’t stiff ‘em when it ain’t.
May 16th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
Scott, perhaps the ambulance company as a private sector outsource (my how Reagen would be proud)knowingly negotiated a contract with Pima County that couldn’t possibly cover its fixed costs and so, surprise, surprise, some of those costs little by little by con-artistry little get passed to cyclists or whomever. All in the name of winning a contract. The public’s expectations of ethical service be damned, of course.
So, yes we would want to ask Dupnik about this, but also Huckleberry and Pima County Board Of Supervisors.
May 16th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Scott–
The motorist was at fault, and the cyclist’s insurance company paid the ambulance bill; the cyclist is being compensated in turn by the motorist’s insurance company. I investigated the ambulance company’s behavior because it is possible or likely that the cyclist will have to compensate his insurance company for the ambulance bill.
I don’t have a problem with the statute and I think ambulance companies should be paid when they treat or transport people. But showing up on-scene when you aren’t actually needed and the injured party never called you is just a cost of doing business when you are an ambulance company. What troubles me about Rural Metro is that more than one person there misrepresented the law to me (in their favor, naturally), and if my client is to be believed, they also attempted to treat a person who didn’t need or want that treatment and never asked for it, but who may now have to pay them for providing no services to him at all.
EBR
May 16th, 2010 at 5:45 pm
Erik Rural Metro is a huge cash cow, they factor in “dry runs” as costs of doing business then pass the dry run costs to the insurance companies later. They have been doing this for years. Someone with a law degree needs to jump their practice of recovering losses from those who do not request their help…. How about a T.V. story, “news on your side 4″ kind of thing? I have to say, when I was lying in the street unconscious I needed their help, and couldn’t ask, but their fees exceeded the “ER” room fees. Something about that seems wrong? In my case paid for by the motorists insurance company.
May 16th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
“the cyclist’s insurance company paid the ambulance bill; the cyclist is being compensated in turn by the motorist’s insurance company. I investigated the ambulance company’s behavior because it is possible or likely that the cyclist will have to compensate his insurance company for the ambulance bill.”
Ok, that makes more sense – I was wondering why this wasn’t a matter for insurance company lawyers. Although it does seem perfectly logical and reasonable for any recovery from the driver’s insurance to go toward reimbursing the cyclist’s insurance company. I agree that their misrepresentation is a rather hinky and underhanded way to avoid taking the loss, but speaking as a potential patient I’d still rather see them paid for showing up on the bounce even if it turns out they’re not needed after all, than to really really need them but have them late or unavailable due to loss-induced budget and personnel cuts or driven out of business altogether.
May 17th, 2010 at 1:33 am
This sounds really messed up from a UK perspective. I was really confused when I saw how much certain aspected of the US media were bashing the National Health System we have here in the UK, but after reading this I am now even more confused. Why would so many people actively fight to keep healthcare like it is in the US. In the UK I would have just been treated by the paramedics, taken to hospital if needed and sent on my merry way.
May 17th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Those who have accustomed themselves
to the money that private insurance
provides. No reason for Rural Metro
to make a full charge where no service
is provided, but they do it. And its
the same pattern in the whole medical
related field. Insurance provides the
avenue for over-charges and eventually
that becomes the standard. Up and up and
up….people will fight hard for that.
May 17th, 2010 at 7:00 pm
NO we won’t Cog.
November 12th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
YES WE WILL YOU IGNORANT FOE.
February 11th, 2011 at 7:31 pm
I work for the company and I know for a fact that they charge even when they shouldn’t. For example, if a medic responds with an EMT on a call but doesn’t do anything with the patient, they will bill for the higher ALS runs because they say since the medic was there then they can bill for an ALS assessment which is about twice the cost. This is a regular practice for this company. It is appalling and an abuse of the system.