Does Medicare pay for ambulance rides?

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Does Medicare pay for ambulance rides?

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They do ask for your insurance cards. I showed them my Medicare card and Supplement card and all was good. They don’y Take you back home though.

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If you are not medically safe to get home, day via a taxi, because of weakness, dizziness, no one brought your wheelchair or Walker,
You can't get from a vehicle to entry door..and to apartment inside the building...then doctor can approve ambulance back home. This happened several times to LO last year after TIAs were misdiagnosed. LO should have been in hospital IMO but CT was clear so they discharged person who could not walk in the middle of the night.

Also many hospitals give a voucher for taxi home...but you have to ask and make it clear you don't have a way to pay for a cab.
or even a blizzard and taxi won't come to hospital,

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Yes, if she has a Medicare Supplement, it will pay everything. I had to go by by ambulance twice to the hospital and Medicare and my supplement paid. I didn’t pay anything. Look at her Medicare Supplement.

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It depends on the Medicare plan. When I had to go to the hospital by ambulance, my co-pay was $250! On Medicare HMO!

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We have a company called Medride in Oklahoma. It can transfer to and from hospitals, doctors etc. so when my dad left the hospital ER and in patient stays, that is who we used. Also as transportation to his doctor. Reasonable but not cheap.

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Medicare would pay to the hospital but not back to the house.

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Medicare will cover a return ambulance trip back to the house for medical necessity reasons.

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Yes...Most insurances.

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Yes as this was a true emergency. You may have to pay the 20% Medicare won’t cover or your deductible first (if you have one). She had a pretty severe laceration. I don’t think you will have an issue as she needed the ambulance transportation & it was medically justified.

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Its probably a USA question, but here in Australia if you have a healthcare card or pension card it's free. When I wasn't on a pension & was working I used to pay Ambulance Australia yearly fee of $58 but that was 16years ago. But that yearly fee covered me for unlimited trips in ambulance and ambulance transport home if I needed (no one to take care of me or drive me home) it also covered transport from one hospital to another.

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In my experience, Medicare will pay to take someone to the Emergency Room. But, Medicare will not pay to take someone home from the ER. Hospitals sometimes have contracts with local ambulance companies to give people going home from the ER an ambulance ride at a reduced rate. So, going to the ER is covered by Medicare (in my experience). Coming home from the ER cost $160. Without it being a special hospital rate, coming home would have been over $1,000. Be prepared to pay the ambulance company driving you home. They typically demand my credit card before tendering service.

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For that Medicare would have paid. Hitting her head was serious. They do not pay for just transporting unless it can be proven that is the only way to get the person to a dr.

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Medicare paid for Luz to be transported by ambulance three times and tricare picked up the balance.

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Just a thought--if the situation isn't particularly urgent and there's no excessive bleeding, would a taxi be a suitable option? I don't know if there is a medical service that's simpler (and less expensive) than an ambulance, the latter being "overkill" (no pun intended) in many cases.

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For 90% of my relatives, there are no taxis (or Uber) available in their area. And a fall - particularly if there is blow to the head that is bleeding- in an elderly person is certainly urgent.

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Yes, partially. Supplemental will help as well. For us, it brings the price down from $2500 to $250.

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yes, might have to pay the 20% co-insurance

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Yes, if they have Part B.

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Does Medicare pay for ambulance rides?

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