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Opinion: Hospitals do not give facts of life flights, says Norwood resident

Posted 8/14/17

To the Editor: In response to “Medicare Inflates Price,” which appeared in the Aug. 5-11 issue of North Country This Week: I know from first-hand experience that patients and their families are …

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Opinion: Hospitals do not give facts of life flights, says Norwood resident

Posted

To the Editor:

In response to “Medicare Inflates Price,” which appeared in the Aug. 5-11 issue of North Country This Week: I know from first-hand experience that patients and their families are not given the full facts of the cost for a helicopter transport.

My family was told that we had to have a helicopter transport instead of a traditional ambulance transport, but were never consulted as to the cost of either.

Then as it turns out the transport that was so vitally needed flew from Potsdam to Malone and put down due to “clouds.” The remainder of the transport was done by ambulance from Malone to Burlington via the bridge not even the ferry. All the while the specialist was waiting and was not informed of the transport issues.

Then we found out we were being charged for $60,000 for a 15-minute flight. Seriously? And as I said we weren’t even told the cost or whether our insurance was going to cover the costs. Which by the way my insurance didn’t cover the flight.

We were stuck trying to figure out how we were going to cover the costs on top of the ambulance service.

So to those who think this is a “lifesaving” feature of health care, think again.

Tracey Haggett-Sloan

Norwood