When her 9-year-old daughter was having trouble breathing, Yvette Hammonds took her to a local emergency room. It quickly became clear that girl needed to be transferred to the children鈥檚 hospital about 40 minutes away in Atlanta, so her daughter was loaded into an ambulance.
Months later, Hammonds received a bill for nearly $1,000: the cost of the ground ambulance ride from one in-network hospital to another.
In this installment of InvestigateTV and 麻豆女优 Health News鈥 鈥淐ostly Care鈥 series, Caresse Jackman, InvestigateTV鈥檚 national consumer investigative reporter, probes the lack of cost protections for patients who find themselves needing an ambulance ride to care.
Jackman鈥檚 story features an interview with Elisabeth Rosenthal, 麻豆女优 Health News鈥 senior contributing editor. 鈥淲hen you need an ambulance, you need an ambulance,鈥 Rosenthal said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 the worst time in your life to be a consumer, when you have no choice.鈥
麻豆女优 Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at 麻豆女优鈥攁n independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about .