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If it's a medical emergency, Erie County 911 will respond, but there is one address many of its dispatchers know by heart.
They find Scott Graham usually waiting at that Buffalo address for his ambulance several times a week.
"Sometimes two times a day," Graham told 2 On Your Side. He suffers from Sickle Cell Anemia, a blood disorder. If left untreated, it can block blood flow to limbs and organs.
"It feels like somebody shooting me with battery acid, and I'm stepping on razor blades, and I'm having a heart attack at once," he said talking about the pain the disorder causes.
Graham doesn't have a job, insurance or car. So, when he feels bad, he doesn't call a cab. He calls 911 to have an ambulance drive him to the hospital.
A 2 On Your Side investigation found that from January 2006 to May of this year, Rural Metro Ambulance picked him up 603 times.
Medicaid picked up the tab for each ride, costing taxpayers at least $118,158.
Quote:
Graham says he requests an ambulance because he can't see his doctor as much as he needs. He also says he gets help quicker by arriving in an ambulance rather than by cab.
wgrz.com | Buffalo, NY | You Paid For It: Ambulance Rides, Health Care Reform (http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=69029&catid=37 - broken link)
Off topic and beside the point...you know,you ARE allowed to think this guy is a mooch and wasting our money....
I think he is wasting money.
I actually have an Aunt who has called 911 for an ambulance on several occasions, mostly becasue she is upset with her kids or "feels funny". She has been warned not to do it again but who knows. She IS is poor health but still.
My God that is repulsive. And so are the posters that do not see anything wrong with this behavior. Illicitly exploiting the ambulance emergency service is so wrong on so many levels. SLCPUNK you are just that.
That story has nothing to do with national health care. Whether or not we get a national health care program, there will be crazies who can't stop calling for an ambulance. It's a local issue.
"As we look at health care reform," Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) said, "we should also look at oversight and accountability for those programs to make sure that people aren't abusing the system."
Gillibrand says cracking down on abuse should be part of the major health care reform going through Congress to force more oversight.
Take Mr. Graham's case. His trips cost Medicaid $118,000, but the government reimbursements are low. In fact, most ambulance companies lose money, up to 30% or more, when they transport Medicaid patients, because the government simply does not pay the full cost. Therefore, Mr. Graham's actual cost to the ambulance company and to the health care system in general, is much more, as high as $360,000.
Waste is a problem...that you fail to see that is your problem.
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Certainly less than the current administration
