Emergency Medical Costs (insurance, house, salary)

[melt me down]

I need some advice.

I went to the hospital a few weeks ago on the advice of both my uncle (a doctor) and an operator at Hatzolah. For those of you who don't know, Hatzolah is a free paramedic service offered in a lot of Jewish areas, and I had only called them for a second opinion after my uncle told me to go to the hospital. The guy on the line agreed I should go and quickly said he would send someone over to check it out. I was in pain and scared and I had no idea where the closest hospital was so I didn't object before he hung up.

Next thing I know, 3 ambulances show up in front of my building (I didn't see them until I went outside) and ran up to my door with a stretcher and all this gear and I just thought they worked for the Hatzolah people until 10 minutes later when Hatzolah actually showed up.

So here I am, this 21 year old girl, crying and scared and confused, but perfectly able to walk around and talk to them, as the two groups of paramedics give each other dirty, awkward looks, and I realize someone called 911, and it certainly WAS NOT me. I explained to both of them that I was told to go to the ER and I didn't expect all these people to show up and apologized profusely, telling them several times that I didn't even know if I should go to the hospital since I HAVE NO INSURANCE.

The regular paramedics were just looking at me like I was crazy and kept asking if I wanted to go to the hospital. I felt bad that now that I had 5 men in my house and said "I guess I should go, since you're here." The paramedics told me that the only reason I should go with Hatzolah was if I had a religious preference. I'm 21 years old, I've never had any serious medical problems, and I have avoided doctors for years since I can't pay for them. So I get this bill in the mail for $1,600, $1,100 of which is for the ambulance alone, and I am shocked. I've heard that the ambulance costs money before, but since I didn't call 911, I was perfectly able to walk around and talk to them, told them repeatedly that I had no insurance, didn't require their emergency medical services, and cost was never mentioned to me by anyone, I didn't think they'd charge me anything, let alone THIS MUCH. To add to that, Hatzolah would have checked out the situation and taken me to the hospital for FREE (or I could have taken the train for $2.25), and I really feel that this should have been mentioned to me alongside the religious preference thing.

I'm a student, I just lost my job, and I've been having trouble (even before that) making ends meet for my basic needs. It's bad enough that the tests the hospital ran (nothing at all serious or extravagant) cost $500, but my head is reeling at this $1,100 cab ride. Why wasn't I informed of this when I seemed so reluctant to get any treatment at all??

I was told that if I qualified for medicaid, they would cover part of my visit, but the <$9000 A YEAR salary required for that is laughable in a city like this. I would literally be living on the streets. Is there anything I can do about this?


*mod note: I put this in General US instead of health since it's about the US medical system, not a question about my condition...but feel free to move it if need be.