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What Is The Cost of An Ambulance Ride in Los Angeles?

After an accident or a medical emergency in Los Angeles, your ambulance fee will depend on the level of care you require and the distance you travel. In 2022, a basic care ride costs around $1,800. An advanced care transport costs around $2,500.

Determining Ambulance Care Costs In Los Angeles

Many people are under the impression that ambulance costs are a public service provided by California. They might think that emergency transport is taken care of by the taxes they pay. Unfortunately, taxes pay for the fire department protections you receive, but an ambulance ride is far from free.

ValuePenguin found that California ambulance-related spending is the highest in the country. The costs average out to around $380 million a year for the state.

For those who suffer from a medical incident in Los Angeles and must be rushed to the hospital, the hope is that health insurance will cover some or all of the cost of an ambulance. The expense is often overwhelming for those who don’t have health insurance.

For those who are sent to the hospital after a personal injury accident, these costs too often fall to the victims, instead of the person to blame. A personal injury is an accident caused by someone’s negligence.

Dog owners can be held liable for allowing their dogs to bite and injure someone. The car insurance provider for a careless driver should be responsible for ambulance fees and hospital invoices for the innocent victims hurt in a crash.

Those found liable should have to pay for every physical, emotional, financial toll an accident takes on a victim. However, it’s often necessary to trust your case to a legal professional to make sure insurance companies don’t get away with tactics designed to limit the compensation the injured receive.

City of Los Angeles Ambulance Fees

Ambulance fees are a major part of the costs most accident victims will face. Health insurance will sometimes pay for an entire trip. More often, your policy will only cover a percentage of a trip, leaving you with what may be thousands of dollars in fees.

The city of Los Angeles can update its ambulance rates (often increasing them) almost yearly. They work out these standard charges with the Los Angeles Fire Department. The rates depend on the level of care needed by the patient.

The services are categorized as Basic Life Support (BLS) or Advanced Life Support (ALS). There’s also a difference in charges for an emergency call made through 911 and a non-emergency response. Non-emergency calls will usually cost the victim less.

These are the Los Angeles ambulance rates in effect at the beginning of 2022:

LA BLS Emergency 911 Call – Response at a Basic Life Support level cost — $1,747.00

LA ALS Emergency 911 Call – Response at Advanced Life Support level cost – $2,463.00

Per Mile — $20.00

Ambulance crews also charge for the time they are delayed and waiting on the scene to transport a patient.

In accidents involving a traumatic injury or in a life-threatening medical situation, a helicopter ride to the hospital could be needed. Perhaps a flight to Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center is required.

These rides can cost 30,000 dollars or more. Your health insurance may provide part of these costs and pass along a portion to you. However, many medical flights are deemed out of the patient’s insurance network, and insurance companies use the excuse to refuse coverage. In the case of a personal injury, the at-fault party’s insurance provider must be held 100% responsible.

Los Angeles County Ambulance Fees

In Los Angeles County, the fire department handles the ambulance services. The Los Angeles County Fire Department recommends to the county government what to charge for ambulance transport and paramedic care.

These are the Los Angeles County ambulance rates that went into effect in July of 2021:

LA County BLS Emergency 911 Call – Response at a Basic Life Support level cost — $1,702.00

LA County ALS Emergency 911 Call – Response at Advanced Life Support Level level cost – $2,550.00

Per Mile — $19.00

For a non-emergency response, a basic care ride in Los Angeles County will cost around $1,600. A non-emergency response advanced care ride will run patients around $1,700.

The LA County Fire Department also charges $135 an hour for every 30 minutes paramedics are asked to wait on scene by the person hiring the ambulance.

Contact a Los Angeles Personal Injury Lawyer for a Free Consultation

Ambulance care is often a major part of the expense of recovery for patients. These enormous emergency response fees aren’t always covered in full by health insurance companies and that’s if you have insurance in the first place.

In a serious personal injury accident like a traffic collision or a slip-and-fall at a grocery store or at work, victims often have another option. When someone’s negligence caused your injury, you are encouraged to file a claim for damages. This civil claim seeks to protect victims from the cost of recovery and ambulance bills and demands full support from the at-fault party’s insurance provider.

When you don’t feel like the person or business responsible for your injury is taking full responsibility for your medical care, contact a legal professional at Maison Law. Schedule a free consultation to talk to a real lawyer about your options for getting every hospital bill and ambulance fee covered.

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