Hi Skip...
Interesting perspective my friend on the 'no bill worries' comment regarding the UK and Australia. (Feedback - EMS - is it a priority?
by Skip Kirkwood, M.S., J.D., EMT-P) What you failed to mention is that the reason there are no bills associated with these systems is that they have a healthcare system with a single national payer fully funded by tax revenue (by the way, the tax rate in those countries hover at about 45%). The bills are paid, they're paid IN ADVANCE by everyone.
There is a component of most EMS systems that does fit that model, right? Fire/Rescue First Response is typically fully funded by tax revenue - but some departments are trying to change that by charging for services to out of town residents.
We need a fully tax-base funded healthcare system in the U.S., but until the we finally realize that an annual healthcare tab of $2.6 trillion (15.6% of our entire GDP by the way) is unacceptable, our fee for service system will continue to escalate the care disparity based on ability to pay, as well as waste valuable economic resources.
Matt Zavadsky
Email this article
Printer friendly page