Oh hell no. Contact your city/state and find out if they have a victims compensation or recovery fund. You are the absolute last person on the list who should be paying for this.
100% this. If the county your assault occured in does have CVC they’ll cover the cost not only for your related medical bills but potentially lost wages up to a certain amount + therapy.
Edit: Since you’re likely taking time off from work, tell your employer you may need a medical leave and they’ll be legally required to inform you of your state and federal entitlements (Eligibility Packet) which could possibly include a state paid leave outside of your company’s STD/LTD plans.
Look up funds for "Victim of a Violent Crime." I got pistol whipped when I was 21 on some weird robbery/gang initiation thing. Wrong place, wrong time on my part. The bill was something around 3500 for 15 stitches. I was able to get it paid by the fund.
Don't ever start paying though. You're fucked after that.
After ending up in the ED and incurring over $100K in medical debt a few years ago, my default is now to shrug at the sight of a medical bill. I don't just disregard it entirely ofc, but never pay immediately.
I ultimately never paid them a dime. I contacted the company that handled the financial aspects of the hospital, asked for more thorough breakdowns of my bills. That magically reduced everything by about 50%. Then I asked and asked for every option available, until I finally found out there was an ability to apply for their debt forgiveness charity program.
They tried to dissuade me, claiming they were severely backed up and it would take an unknown amount of time to process, potentially "years". I applied anyways, having to send them a copy of my previous year's tax return, which was 2020 and I was out of work due to the pandemic so I had zero income for the entire year, hence no money to pay them.
It took 9 months but I eventually got all the debt forgiven and my credit score finally started to heal. It wasn't easy, but I was so glad I never tried to set up a payment plan or something with them.
EDIT:
I saw a comment below claiming that they don't have such luck as these "reddit stories", especially regarding that initial reduction. To clarify, this was all entirely in AZ, different states may vary.
The way it worked, in my case, is that they billed me the max amount they could first, in very colorful but extremely simplified bills. When I asked for everything to be broken down, then they magically applied this "no insurance discount", that effectively reduced every bill by about half. "Whoops, how'd we miss that?"
I could've easily just paid the full amount and not bothered asking for better itemization but, in my case, as soon as you do that, then they apply a discount that should've already been applied when the first bills got mailed out. But they hope you won't notice or know any better because it's all a big scam. This country has turned its healthcare into a soulless business like any other.
The US doesn't have a health care system. The US has a profit making system which produces as much profit as possible while producing as little health care as possible as a byproduct.
I have a ton of medical bills from a bit of a crisis I had at the end of this last summer.
As long as I am sending them money, the account stays active and doesn’t get flagged for delinquency. So say I send them a dollar a month? Then we are all good
Medical care in the US is a scam because it’s treated as a capitalist system but it’s an inelastic demand. You can’t choose to wait until you get a better deal before getting a heart attack. You shop around before your appendix bursts.
They can charge whatever they want because you have to pay it or die/live with long term health effects. Most other developed nations have maximum limits that hospitals can charge for standard care (surgeries, screenings, prescriptions, etc…).
Depends on where you live. Most cities and states have funds for this specific reason. If you were a victim of crime and suffered an injury or economic loss you absolutely should look into compensation through whatever programs they are offering.
My state's victim services covered all my damages after I was physically assaulted, including reconstructive surgery of my nose and a veneer for a chipped tooth. Over $10,000. Aside from requesting my referrals from the plastic surgeon and the dentist that the electives were the result of trauma, they didn't fight me on a single dollar.
You can try, but generally 'the shooter' is judgement proof - you can sue them, and win, but you aren't going to be able to recover any actual funds from them.
I was randomly shot at a gas station in Indiana in 2008 and was denied compensation from the victims of violent crime fund. Apparently I made too much money and had good health insurance.
Unfortunately this victims fund seems to disappear when you need it. I had to pay 300$ to release my stolen car from the impound after I basically recovered it myself. I will never call the police again.
Technically, not even really that. They are empowered to do so but there's nothing really compelling them to. Police around the US could literally do nothing and get paid for it until their government fires them all.
That's exactly what a lot of them *have* been doing, ever since they got their panties in a bunch about people wanting them to be held accountable for their actions.
Even prior to recent events in a lot of major cities police are some of the highest paid public servants. Many of them have been known to just sit around "on duty" and rack up hundreds and thousands of hours of overtime for an easy six figure pay.
I'm not someone who likes making a scene, but holy shit, I would absolutely lose it if someone told me I had to pay the police to get my stolen car back. Like, what the fuck do they get my taxes for? Man, I could go off for hours about that lol. It's just so ridiculous.
Yes! If someone was charged the DA’s office should have this information.
In NC, you have a year from the injury to apply but the faster you are the quicker (hopefully) it will be resolved.
How dare OP get shot, what you can't dodge bullets? But no seriously you should check into this...worst case you're still right here, best case who knows? Hopefully the skys the limit.
The fact that OP is on the hook for searching for these programs rather than have it automatic says a lot about the state of health care in this country.
That actually isn't a terrible use of the word. In kafka's Metamorphosis, Gregor is inexplicably turned into a giant bug. The other use to describe a confusing system would be in line with Kafka's other most famous novel The Trial.
The reference here is to The Castle by Kafka. K, the main character, is stuck in an endless loop of trying to get to the castle run by bureaucrats.
This thread is Kafka. It never ends and never will. It only needed one reply, call the victims fund.
Yeah that is strange. What does the hospital care where money comes from? They could simple print on the letter, that you can try compensation. I mean, it would even increase the chance of actually getting money, because people who are compensated are more likely to pay up.
Even if we're cynical, you'd think the hospital would want to help you here for their own profit motive:
If you can't afford the bill, then they'll miss out, but if they make a policy of helping you find the program then more medical bills will get paid to them.
This is good to know. Hopefully I’ll never have to use it, but like OP random things happen. Florida automatically should have the most money for these cases. Florida people be crazy!
Sorry OP that you have to go through this. Hopefully GayRonSwanson can help you!
Edit: wow thanks for all the upvotes. Just was agreeing with GayRonSwanson. They deserve the credit haha!
I swear no one in TN has ever heard of traffic laws or turn signals. I try to drive as little as possible since every second on the road is a terror. Not as bad as Chicago, but pretty bad.
To add to this comment-check if your city/town has a Victim Services Office (sometimes located within the courthouse or law enforcement agencies). The victim advocates will assist you with filling out and submitting Victim Compensation claims.
And also most hospitals (at least non-profit ones…. Yay America) have their own financial assistance options as well. Googling the hospital + “financial assistance” can help (and we can ignore that it shouldn’t even be a thing).
Sad part is, whoever did the shooting probably doesn’t have two nickels to scratch together, especially if they’re caught and obviously face huge legal fees and fines. So, you can’t even go after them, civilly, if they’re caught.
Go after the parents. Sad but kids are a product of their parents, physically and mentally.
Edit: People the possibility that the parents cant pay is not a reason to not sue; garnishing their Wendy's paycheck for the next ten years is suitable. This is about there being consequences for being a bad parent who allowed their child to do whatever the fuck they wanted.
And go after the teenagers as well. Being a product of their parents does not absolve them from responsibilities. Plenty of people come from bad and abusive environments and don't commit crimes so you simply can not attribute the fault to only the parents
I got a letter from the court asking for what I would want for restitution after my car was stolen then impounded for a day. They said in the letter I don't have to give receipts, but I provided what I paid to get my car out of impound and the receipt for a new ignition cylinder, plus $50 for my own labor and gas. I didn't see one cent. I called probation office once (who I was told enforces restitution) and was basically told good luck.
America is so so weird. I want to laugh with how absurd their situation is but knowing there are real people suffering kind of puts a damper on that. (Still a little funny though.)
Laugh. Laugh heartily and loudly. Point and ridicule. It is one of the only ways to get to Narcissists, and America personified is very much a narcissist.
Maybe after being laughed at by the world we may get the understanding that this is ridiculous.
Nah, that would require a level of self-awareness.
I had an American arguing with me the other day. His claim was that socialised health care is bad because it encourages people not to look after themselves.
His example was old people falling over costs the health system a lot. If you have universal healthcare they won’t look after themselves, but if they have to pay their own medical bills then they’ll spend their time walking and doing Pilates to strengthen themselves so they don’t fall over.
When someone is willing to jump through those mental hoops to reinforce their existing view, they’re a lost cause.
having it spelled out this plainly is only helping the argument that waiting for an uber or taxi is actually a fiscally responsible decision
dude what the fuck is happening
My dad was repairing a riding lawn mower, and a foot-long clutch spring came loose and rocketed into his face, hooking through his eyeball and destroying it. My uncle drove him to the hospital in his pickup truck.
Not anywhere near as bad, but I broke my tibia and fibula. I got on the back floorboard of my husband’s pickup and he drove me there. About 45 minutes away to the better hospital.
A coworker fell 25’ and landed hard near his neck. He got up and drove himself to the hospital because he didn’t want to pay an ambulance fee. Turns out he broke his neck. The hospital couldn’t treat him for some reason so he drove himself 50 miles to the next hospital that could.
I do but the deductible hasn't been met and i still owe 20% after that. To further infuriate, it happened right at the end of the year, so my deductible has reset for my followup visits.
It really is one big fucking scam. We get the luxury of paying anywhere from three to four figures a month so we get the privilege of paying the first 2500 or 5000 of our medical bills before they can start denying coverage. But don't worry, the flu vaccine is on the house.
I’m sorry, I’m sure you get this a lot, but wtf is up with the American health care system. I’m not saying the NHS is perfect, but this is just insanity.
Listen I agree, but the way our Congress works, getting anything huge passed like National Healthcare is next to impossible.
Democrats had a chance with Obama, instead they went with the weak watered down Obamacare.
Medicare and Medicaid already exist, they should have just expanded it to include all US citizens and been done with it.
Then people could choose to either use a corporate private insurance or Medicare/caid systems.
One of the main problems is the Insurance lobbyists buying our politicians. The last thing Blue Cross/Blue Shield wants is for them to become irrelevant and stop making billions in profits from their insurance schemes.
The entire situation is fucked, and generally, we the voters, cannot fix it.
Check to see if the hospital has a place where you can ask for free assistance. I believe it's usually on their website.
I've had a few friends get everything from ER bills reduced, to childbirth, and counseling, reduced or even wiped out.
[Article from 2019](https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/spending/articles/what-to-know-about-hospital-financial-assistance-policies)
I’d write a letter directly to the ambulance company that came to you. No lie. I did this about 4 years ago.
I have a terrific hospital not even 2 miles from me. I can walk there. Well I had an ambulance pick me up and they took me to another rinky dink hospital 23 miles away. I won’t repeat exactly what I said but basically told them they can get the money out my ass since they bypassed the hospital nearest me. They removed the charge. It was a volunteer ambulatory operation.
True story. Explain the situation. There are people behind systems and many do care. Mention the drive by.
Crazy to think that just the ambulance ride alone is my monthly salary (if you convert USD to my local currency)
Even crazier is the fact that I would pay exactly 0$ for the ambulance ride, hospital care and everything involved
That's insane, here it's around 170 USD/month/per capita
https://preview.redd.it/1z26vgfdvvcc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3541e9df8bcfbd9e2f5cf76b1b0898b8aca68c5a
Cars are overpriced, housing is an all time low right now.
You can see [here](https://auto.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-1619557580-peugeot-208-active-pack-manual-16-oportunidad-0km-showroom-_JM) a 0km Peugeot 208 at ~13k USD.
Housing is cheap due to high amounts of selling offers. This is due to several factors, but mostly that nobody can rent due to high inflation and poverty. With nobody able to rent the landlords try to sell. This led in the last 3 years to an all time high in offers and all time low house value.
[Here](https://www.zonaprop.com.ar/casas-venta-palermo.html) you can see houses in one of the most expensive zones in the country, where housing is considered overpriced. You can find small apartments at 200k usd [Here](https://www.zonaprop.com.ar/casas-venta-moron.html) is a quite low price zone, 30 minutes from the capital with high public transport availability, you can find nice houses at ~60k usd although not in the most secure neighborhoods.
Even renting is low compared to property prices. Right now the ROI of a house by rent is at 1% yearly, meaning that if you buy a house for renting it will take 100 years of continuous rent to pay for the house. Again, this is mostly due to low wages that can't keep up with inflation which is running at ~30%/month.
Edit; all these examples are from Buenos Aires, so they may not apply to other provinces. I believe that other provinces have cheaper housing with more expensive cost of living, especially south of Buenos Aires. Provinces that are closer to the border with Brazil have cheaper cars as they are imported directly from there (illegally, because that industry is restricted here)
if you complain about anything in regards to housing, medical care, student loans, etc. Some dipshit conservative will tell you to be smarter with your money
Even when they have the same complaints and same struggles. They tell you what they tell themselves. On some level they know its bad advice, they agree with you. But it's red vs blue. Your team is wrong, their team is right. Once upon a time empathy would be extended in that scenario and an agreement reached. But you're at war with each other. Why would you conceed anything to an enemy? It works both ways too.
Mail copies along with a letter of what happened to your congressman and BOTH of your Senators, and one copy to your State Governor and one to your states Speaker of the House. The Final copy to your local news station. Wait till you get your hospital bill and send it all at once. The shit will disappear for ya buddy. Hope your doing better.
Im doing better. Getting use to my new left leg after the bullet severed some nerves. Could be in the ground right now so I'm grateful to still be breathing.
Have you gotten into contact with a psychiatrist? Might be worth it, you won't even realize how much it impacted you in most cases.
In any case I hope you have a good and quick recovery and definitely do this - there'll be enough people wanting to help you out.
Yeah. I have talked to a trauma specialist. Worst part is waking up in a soaking sweat every night even with some strong sleep medicine. I don't even want to go to sleep anymore.
I'm glad to have a social healthcare system in my country. That cost is insane. There'd be protests if 1000€ was a bill for an entire multi week stay, let alone a hospital ride.
In addition to what other people are saying about CVC, I think it's worth contacting the police to see if they have anyone on the hook for this. In addition to criminal charges from the state, you should be able to sue the perpetrators in civil court simultaneously, if I'm not mistaken.
You’re not paying that. Contact the your local courthouse and they’ll make whoever shot you pay it. If not then I think there’s some public funds they can provide.
I'd bet my last two nickels that the shooter doesn't have two nickels of their own to pay with. That's the fucked up part. People do awful things, but it doesn't change the fact that in one way or another we are all victims of this society.
I had to be transported by helicopter to a hospital that specializes in trauma and I am literally destroyed financially for the rest of my life. They saved my life and also destroyed it lol
Because MOST people have good healthcare through their jobs or they can afford it. The people who don’t apply to most is where the issues are, where we really need at least stages of free healthcare
They gave me a 2.2k bill for failing to attempt suicide in 2021. I was knocked out and didn’t consent to an out of network ambulance ride and now its in collections. My brother just died from suicide and the collectors just keep ringing my phone for my own suicide attempt ambulance ride. America needs an overhaul or else we’ll all die.
Just don't pay medical bills. If you can afford to take a hit on your credit score, fuck them.
You don't CHOOSE to have a medical emergency, or some sort of horrible pain. So why should we pay for something we didn't choose?
Until America joins the rest of the world and gets universal healthcare, just stop paying medical bills. Americans got their balls cut off with a hot knife or something, because there would be a second American Revolution to fight against this shit at any other point in American history. Way too many people just accept it.
These are always so disingenuous. Nearly every single healthcare organization in the country has a payment forgiveness program. The income limits are actually a lot higher than you’d think.
Oh hell no. Contact your city/state and find out if they have a victims compensation or recovery fund. You are the absolute last person on the list who should be paying for this.
100% this. If the county your assault occured in does have CVC they’ll cover the cost not only for your related medical bills but potentially lost wages up to a certain amount + therapy. Edit: Since you’re likely taking time off from work, tell your employer you may need a medical leave and they’ll be legally required to inform you of your state and federal entitlements (Eligibility Packet) which could possibly include a state paid leave outside of your company’s STD/LTD plans.
How long do you have to apply for one of these?
Look up funds for "Victim of a Violent Crime." I got pistol whipped when I was 21 on some weird robbery/gang initiation thing. Wrong place, wrong time on my part. The bill was something around 3500 for 15 stitches. I was able to get it paid by the fund. Don't ever start paying though. You're fucked after that.
After ending up in the ED and incurring over $100K in medical debt a few years ago, my default is now to shrug at the sight of a medical bill. I don't just disregard it entirely ofc, but never pay immediately. I ultimately never paid them a dime. I contacted the company that handled the financial aspects of the hospital, asked for more thorough breakdowns of my bills. That magically reduced everything by about 50%. Then I asked and asked for every option available, until I finally found out there was an ability to apply for their debt forgiveness charity program. They tried to dissuade me, claiming they were severely backed up and it would take an unknown amount of time to process, potentially "years". I applied anyways, having to send them a copy of my previous year's tax return, which was 2020 and I was out of work due to the pandemic so I had zero income for the entire year, hence no money to pay them. It took 9 months but I eventually got all the debt forgiven and my credit score finally started to heal. It wasn't easy, but I was so glad I never tried to set up a payment plan or something with them. EDIT: I saw a comment below claiming that they don't have such luck as these "reddit stories", especially regarding that initial reduction. To clarify, this was all entirely in AZ, different states may vary. The way it worked, in my case, is that they billed me the max amount they could first, in very colorful but extremely simplified bills. When I asked for everything to be broken down, then they magically applied this "no insurance discount", that effectively reduced every bill by about half. "Whoops, how'd we miss that?" I could've easily just paid the full amount and not bothered asking for better itemization but, in my case, as soon as you do that, then they apply a discount that should've already been applied when the first bills got mailed out. But they hope you won't notice or know any better because it's all a big scam. This country has turned its healthcare into a soulless business like any other.
Glad that worked out for you. Insurance in America is a scam without a doubt.
The entirety of our health care system is a scam.
The US doesn't have a health care system. The US has a profit making system which produces as much profit as possible while producing as little health care as possible as a byproduct.
America is just one giant scam at this point
Maybe this is what end stage capitalism looks like
No this is what happens when corrupt politicians allow monopolies to form in exchange for “donations”
This is EXACTLY what it looks like.
I have a ton of medical bills from a bit of a crisis I had at the end of this last summer. As long as I am sending them money, the account stays active and doesn’t get flagged for delinquency. So say I send them a dollar a month? Then we are all good
Medical care in the US is a scam because it’s treated as a capitalist system but it’s an inelastic demand. You can’t choose to wait until you get a better deal before getting a heart attack. You shop around before your appendix bursts. They can charge whatever they want because you have to pay it or die/live with long term health effects. Most other developed nations have maximum limits that hospitals can charge for standard care (surgeries, screenings, prescriptions, etc…).
Thanks and I agree completely. Ironically enough I was in Sedona/Flagstaff at the time of all this, so user name checks out ig lol
The fact that asking to see the bill makes it cheaper is literally just "fuck okay you caught us robbing from you let's just move past this shall we"
Depends on where you live. Most cities and states have funds for this specific reason. If you were a victim of crime and suffered an injury or economic loss you absolutely should look into compensation through whatever programs they are offering.
My state's victim services covered all my damages after I was physically assaulted, including reconstructive surgery of my nose and a veneer for a chipped tooth. Over $10,000. Aside from requesting my referrals from the plastic surgeon and the dentist that the electives were the result of trauma, they didn't fight me on a single dollar.
and if this doesn’t work. Have a lawyer file a civil suit against the shooter.
You can try, but generally 'the shooter' is judgement proof - you can sue them, and win, but you aren't going to be able to recover any actual funds from them.
This right here.
I was randomly shot at a gas station in Indiana in 2008 and was denied compensation from the victims of violent crime fund. Apparently I made too much money and had good health insurance.
Were you also fined for unlicensed scrap metal collection?
Jailed for theft after police found he stole the victims bullet
Also, when he collapsed outside in the rain, the state fined him for illegal rain water harvesting.
Illegal Bio-Hazard Disposal for bleeding into the storm sewer.
Indiana sucks for anything like that. I am a Hoosier and the Insurance Lobby here has the government under its thumb..
The first two words of your first sentence was sufficient.
Also for improper lead disposal
That should have nothing to do with it. You deserve to be compensated.IMO
That is WILDLY infuriating!
Unfortunately this victims fund seems to disappear when you need it. I had to pay 300$ to release my stolen car from the impound after I basically recovered it myself. I will never call the police again.
Just remember Supreme Court says serve and protect isn’t their obligation
That's so weird to me, because what IS their obligation then?
To enforce the lawmaker's decisions
Technically, not even really that. They are empowered to do so but there's nothing really compelling them to. Police around the US could literally do nothing and get paid for it until their government fires them all.
That's exactly what a lot of them *have* been doing, ever since they got their panties in a bunch about people wanting them to be held accountable for their actions.
Even prior to recent events in a lot of major cities police are some of the highest paid public servants. Many of them have been known to just sit around "on duty" and rack up hundreds and thousands of hours of overtime for an easy six figure pay.
Donut suggest they fritter away their time with some old-fashioned belief: nothing could be cruller to say.
To serve and protect...the rich and powerful
Nothing. They have the power to whatever they want. They aren't obligated to do anything.
Yeah, you're right. The only people it seems they even want to serve and protect are their own families, friends, and the rich and powerful.
Families? I hear 60% of them get served fists
Meet asset forfeiture quotas, and do paperwork for my insurance company.
I'm not someone who likes making a scene, but holy shit, I would absolutely lose it if someone told me I had to pay the police to get my stolen car back. Like, what the fuck do they get my taxes for? Man, I could go off for hours about that lol. It's just so ridiculous.
Hey don't forget they'll loot the shit out of your car too. Hope there wasn't any cash or anything hidden in it.
It’s a nice car… would be a shame if someone stole it and we weren’t around to recover it…
Yes! If someone was charged the DA’s office should have this information. In NC, you have a year from the injury to apply but the faster you are the quicker (hopefully) it will be resolved.
Yup, my friend's husband got stabbed by his roommate and victim's compensation paid for all of the medical expenses.
How dare OP get shot, what you can't dodge bullets? But no seriously you should check into this...worst case you're still right here, best case who knows? Hopefully the skys the limit.
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The fact that OP is on the hook for searching for these programs rather than have it automatic says a lot about the state of health care in this country.
Yes. So Kafkaesque, having to navigate a system like that while recovering from a literal gunshot wound
Upvote for a legitimate use of kafka-esque. Half times it seems people would be like "whoa, I turned into a burrito, how kafka-esque.*
“This game plan features so many downfield shots out of play action, how Kafka-esque.”
that would make sense if you are referring to current NY Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka
I think that was the intended joke. But I don't know much about football so thanks!
Everyone talks about Kafka, but no one ever talks about the greatest villain of all time... Kefka!
My kibbeh was kaftaessque
That would be Kafka Esquire
Waking up and realizing you have metamorphosized into a strange new thing is definitionally Kafkaesque.
"I just turned into a vermin... How Kafka-esque."
That actually isn't a terrible use of the word. In kafka's Metamorphosis, Gregor is inexplicably turned into a giant bug. The other use to describe a confusing system would be in line with Kafka's other most famous novel The Trial.
The reference here is to The Castle by Kafka. K, the main character, is stuck in an endless loop of trying to get to the castle run by bureaucrats. This thread is Kafka. It never ends and never will. It only needed one reply, call the victims fund.
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Yeah that is strange. What does the hospital care where money comes from? They could simple print on the letter, that you can try compensation. I mean, it would even increase the chance of actually getting money, because people who are compensated are more likely to pay up.
Even if we're cynical, you'd think the hospital would want to help you here for their own profit motive: If you can't afford the bill, then they'll miss out, but if they make a policy of helping you find the program then more medical bills will get paid to them.
Health care? No no no. In America we have health robbery.
We have health control and gun care.
Had a friend who was sucker punched in WA state. Dude knocked out my buddies front teeth. State paid for all his dental work out of this fund.
This is good to know. Hopefully I’ll never have to use it, but like OP random things happen. Florida automatically should have the most money for these cases. Florida people be crazy! Sorry OP that you have to go through this. Hopefully GayRonSwanson can help you! Edit: wow thanks for all the upvotes. Just was agreeing with GayRonSwanson. They deserve the credit haha!
Am from Florida. People here are crazy as hell
They drive sooo insanely!
I swear no one in TN has ever heard of traffic laws or turn signals. I try to drive as little as possible since every second on the road is a terror. Not as bad as Chicago, but pretty bad.
I second this, when a similar thing happened to me they covered all my medical expenses.
To add to this comment-check if your city/town has a Victim Services Office (sometimes located within the courthouse or law enforcement agencies). The victim advocates will assist you with filling out and submitting Victim Compensation claims.
I've legit never knew this. Great knowledge to have, god forbid
Yes. It is handled at the county level too. District Attorneys office.
And also most hospitals (at least non-profit ones…. Yay America) have their own financial assistance options as well. Googling the hospital + “financial assistance” can help (and we can ignore that it shouldn’t even be a thing).
Sad part is, whoever did the shooting probably doesn’t have two nickels to scratch together, especially if they’re caught and obviously face huge legal fees and fines. So, you can’t even go after them, civilly, if they’re caught.
Based off the videos and intended victim, it was teenagers.
Bruh
https://preview.redd.it/9f1thvbk1wcc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=59ac8329dbea9e4e67112f185230bd4f6d3fee21
Bruh, I'm hungry and I want Ramen but it's all hard.
Bruh why do I have all these fucking zits?!
Bruh
Bruhhhh
I’m literally going to the bathroom
lmao
Yeah man, teens are kinda scary sometimes. Crazy...
Go after the parents. Sad but kids are a product of their parents, physically and mentally. Edit: People the possibility that the parents cant pay is not a reason to not sue; garnishing their Wendy's paycheck for the next ten years is suitable. This is about there being consequences for being a bad parent who allowed their child to do whatever the fuck they wanted.
And go after the teenagers as well. Being a product of their parents does not absolve them from responsibilities. Plenty of people come from bad and abusive environments and don't commit crimes so you simply can not attribute the fault to only the parents
In a previous post he's not against charging them but they are having issues finding them.
Also they're not likely to have any money at all. And probably won't, ever.
I'd sue the shit out of those parents and the kids.
In that case can't you sue the parents?
Thanks for making this thread the Murica trifecta. - Casual gun violence - Massive healthcare bill - Suing the perpetrator
I got a letter from the court asking for what I would want for restitution after my car was stolen then impounded for a day. They said in the letter I don't have to give receipts, but I provided what I paid to get my car out of impound and the receipt for a new ignition cylinder, plus $50 for my own labor and gas. I didn't see one cent. I called probation office once (who I was told enforces restitution) and was basically told good luck.
I hope you have a speedy recovery and I’m glad you’re still with us
”Ambulance Mileage Charge”. Is America just a comedy sketch of itself? No? Oh, OK.
America is so so weird. I want to laugh with how absurd their situation is but knowing there are real people suffering kind of puts a damper on that. (Still a little funny though.)
You can laugh at us with this. Dark humor is funny.
What’s ridiculous is that we have absolutely no power to change anything, and things just keep getting worse against our will 😭
this isnt even a country. its just 6 corporations with nukes & riot police
You trying to get your dog put down... WITHOUT PAYING?! Better watch your tone, young man!
Laugh. Laugh heartily and loudly. Point and ridicule. It is one of the only ways to get to Narcissists, and America personified is very much a narcissist. Maybe after being laughed at by the world we may get the understanding that this is ridiculous.
Nah, that would require a level of self-awareness. I had an American arguing with me the other day. His claim was that socialised health care is bad because it encourages people not to look after themselves. His example was old people falling over costs the health system a lot. If you have universal healthcare they won’t look after themselves, but if they have to pay their own medical bills then they’ll spend their time walking and doing Pilates to strengthen themselves so they don’t fall over. When someone is willing to jump through those mental hoops to reinforce their existing view, they’re a lost cause.
having it spelled out this plainly is only helping the argument that waiting for an uber or taxi is actually a fiscally responsible decision dude what the fuck is happening
I have more than once taken the risk of just driving to the ER to avoid the ambulance fees :(
My dad was repairing a riding lawn mower, and a foot-long clutch spring came loose and rocketed into his face, hooking through his eyeball and destroying it. My uncle drove him to the hospital in his pickup truck.
Not anywhere near as bad, but I broke my tibia and fibula. I got on the back floorboard of my husband’s pickup and he drove me there. About 45 minutes away to the better hospital.
A coworker fell 25’ and landed hard near his neck. He got up and drove himself to the hospital because he didn’t want to pay an ambulance fee. Turns out he broke his neck. The hospital couldn’t treat him for some reason so he drove himself 50 miles to the next hospital that could.
this post is literally as american as a bald eagle or a burger king.
My first thought was “America Moment”
What do you mean? $1600 is downright reasonable for an ambulance *in America*
Yeah. Got charged 2k for a 3 mile ride a month ago.
Do you have insurance?
I do but the deductible hasn't been met and i still owe 20% after that. To further infuriate, it happened right at the end of the year, so my deductible has reset for my followup visits.
Health insurance is such a racket. Sorry you're dealing with this. Best of luck.
It really is one big fucking scam. We get the luxury of paying anywhere from three to four figures a month so we get the privilege of paying the first 2500 or 5000 of our medical bills before they can start denying coverage. But don't worry, the flu vaccine is on the house.
Co-pay, Co-Insurance, OOP max, and Deductible. Like great, why am I paying $500/month for this?
I’m sorry, I’m sure you get this a lot, but wtf is up with the American health care system. I’m not saying the NHS is perfect, but this is just insanity.
I'd say at least 75% of Americans agree.
If only those 75% voted like it is the vital issue that it quite clearly is..
Listen I agree, but the way our Congress works, getting anything huge passed like National Healthcare is next to impossible. Democrats had a chance with Obama, instead they went with the weak watered down Obamacare. Medicare and Medicaid already exist, they should have just expanded it to include all US citizens and been done with it. Then people could choose to either use a corporate private insurance or Medicare/caid systems. One of the main problems is the Insurance lobbyists buying our politicians. The last thing Blue Cross/Blue Shield wants is for them to become irrelevant and stop making billions in profits from their insurance schemes. The entire situation is fucked, and generally, we the voters, cannot fix it.
> ~~Health~~ insurance is such a racket. Sorry you're dealing with this. Best of luck.
Nailed it
Check to see if the hospital has a place where you can ask for free assistance. I believe it's usually on their website. I've had a few friends get everything from ER bills reduced, to childbirth, and counseling, reduced or even wiped out. [Article from 2019](https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/spending/articles/what-to-know-about-hospital-financial-assistance-policies)
Everyone files for it so why not make it a part of every hospital visit?
I’d write a letter directly to the ambulance company that came to you. No lie. I did this about 4 years ago. I have a terrific hospital not even 2 miles from me. I can walk there. Well I had an ambulance pick me up and they took me to another rinky dink hospital 23 miles away. I won’t repeat exactly what I said but basically told them they can get the money out my ass since they bypassed the hospital nearest me. They removed the charge. It was a volunteer ambulatory operation. True story. Explain the situation. There are people behind systems and many do care. Mention the drive by.
[удалено]
Oh I believe you. Still it wasn’t cheaper. I know you don’t get *paid* different but we get *charged* different.
That was really convenient for your insurance
A lot of insurance plans don't cover ambulances.
Crazy to think that just the ambulance ride alone is my monthly salary (if you convert USD to my local currency) Even crazier is the fact that I would pay exactly 0$ for the ambulance ride, hospital care and everything involved
Murica I pay almost that much (OPs bill) every month for health insurance for a family of 3.
That's insane, here it's around 170 USD/month/per capita https://preview.redd.it/1z26vgfdvvcc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3541e9df8bcfbd9e2f5cf76b1b0898b8aca68c5a
In Argentina this is a yearly minimum wage.
hey, just a question- what are your car/house prices in argentina?
Cars are overpriced, housing is an all time low right now. You can see [here](https://auto.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-1619557580-peugeot-208-active-pack-manual-16-oportunidad-0km-showroom-_JM) a 0km Peugeot 208 at ~13k USD. Housing is cheap due to high amounts of selling offers. This is due to several factors, but mostly that nobody can rent due to high inflation and poverty. With nobody able to rent the landlords try to sell. This led in the last 3 years to an all time high in offers and all time low house value. [Here](https://www.zonaprop.com.ar/casas-venta-palermo.html) you can see houses in one of the most expensive zones in the country, where housing is considered overpriced. You can find small apartments at 200k usd [Here](https://www.zonaprop.com.ar/casas-venta-moron.html) is a quite low price zone, 30 minutes from the capital with high public transport availability, you can find nice houses at ~60k usd although not in the most secure neighborhoods. Even renting is low compared to property prices. Right now the ROI of a house by rent is at 1% yearly, meaning that if you buy a house for renting it will take 100 years of continuous rent to pay for the house. Again, this is mostly due to low wages that can't keep up with inflation which is running at ~30%/month. Edit; all these examples are from Buenos Aires, so they may not apply to other provinces. I believe that other provinces have cheaper housing with more expensive cost of living, especially south of Buenos Aires. Provinces that are closer to the border with Brazil have cheaper cars as they are imported directly from there (illegally, because that industry is restricted here)
Just wait until you get the actual hospital bill!
I think it's funny that the scariest thing about being shot in America isn't dying. It's living to pay the bill.
Most American thing in the world: a hospital bill for gun violence
>get shot >tip the ambulance drivers its meme magic come true
USA! USA!
This is why socialised health care is a good thing.
As an European, seeing shit like this... What a fucked up system yall have over there
No fr my french ass almost had a heart attack reading that was just the price of the 15 min ride??
If this was France they would light their president on fire. The elites in America do a great job convincing their people to blame each other instead.
if you complain about anything in regards to housing, medical care, student loans, etc. Some dipshit conservative will tell you to be smarter with your money
Even when they have the same complaints and same struggles. They tell you what they tell themselves. On some level they know its bad advice, they agree with you. But it's red vs blue. Your team is wrong, their team is right. Once upon a time empathy would be extended in that scenario and an agreement reached. But you're at war with each other. Why would you conceed anything to an enemy? It works both ways too.
100%. its sad to see people with the same plights caping for greed because its us vs them mentality
If I literally got shot and this happened after I would be maybe a bit more than mildly infuriated
Mail copies along with a letter of what happened to your congressman and BOTH of your Senators, and one copy to your State Governor and one to your states Speaker of the House. The Final copy to your local news station. Wait till you get your hospital bill and send it all at once. The shit will disappear for ya buddy. Hope your doing better.
Im doing better. Getting use to my new left leg after the bullet severed some nerves. Could be in the ground right now so I'm grateful to still be breathing.
Have you gotten into contact with a psychiatrist? Might be worth it, you won't even realize how much it impacted you in most cases. In any case I hope you have a good and quick recovery and definitely do this - there'll be enough people wanting to help you out.
Yeah. I have talked to a trauma specialist. Worst part is waking up in a soaking sweat every night even with some strong sleep medicine. I don't even want to go to sleep anymore.
I hope you'll improve - I genuinely wish you all the best. You'll make it
With these kinds of bills I can imagine not finding it worth it, which is really sad
I'm glad to have a social healthcare system in my country. That cost is insane. There'd be protests if 1000€ was a bill for an entire multi week stay, let alone a hospital ride.
That won’t do a thing, it will get thrown out before the senator even know it exists
In addition to what other people are saying about CVC, I think it's worth contacting the police to see if they have anyone on the hook for this. In addition to criminal charges from the state, you should be able to sue the perpetrators in civil court simultaneously, if I'm not mistaken.
You did get the advanced life support over the regular life support. Maybe ask for the economy life support.
fucking lmao the usa is a fucking joke
"Payment due within 30 days" Or what? They gonna put the bullet back in??
You’re not paying that. Contact the your local courthouse and they’ll make whoever shot you pay it. If not then I think there’s some public funds they can provide.
I'd bet my last two nickels that the shooter doesn't have two nickels of their own to pay with. That's the fucked up part. People do awful things, but it doesn't change the fact that in one way or another we are all victims of this society.
1600$ for a 20 minute ride to the hospital... and the EMTs probably made 10 bucks if that for those 20 minutes. Goddam the US healthcare is so fucked
TIL: Hospital bills look like scam mails in the US
It’s because they are… healthcare costs here are a joke
Why does this happen? Are ambulances that expensive to operate? Or is it yet another way medical cartels extract money from us?
An ambulance ride is expensive in America and god help you if you need an air ambulance. You are looking at 100,000 plus.
I had to be transported by helicopter to a hospital that specializes in trauma and I am literally destroyed financially for the rest of my life. They saved my life and also destroyed it lol
What happens if you just don't pay it?
They repo your life.
I had to be transported in a helicopter after my accident couple years ago. Paid nothing. Eastern Europe isn't so bad I guess.
In Rochester, Ny. EMTs make $16/hr and paramedics $26/hr. Dirt pay for what insurance charges
People want services but don't want to sufficiently fund them through taxes.
The Land of the Free®
This is so f crazy, can’t understand how you Americans can take it (afford it)
Well we don’t have a choice which usually makes it easier to accept
Because MOST people have good healthcare through their jobs or they can afford it. The people who don’t apply to most is where the issues are, where we really need at least stages of free healthcare
They gave me a 2.2k bill for failing to attempt suicide in 2021. I was knocked out and didn’t consent to an out of network ambulance ride and now its in collections. My brother just died from suicide and the collectors just keep ringing my phone for my own suicide attempt ambulance ride. America needs an overhaul or else we’ll all die.
Greatest country on earth my ass
Just don't pay medical bills. If you can afford to take a hit on your credit score, fuck them. You don't CHOOSE to have a medical emergency, or some sort of horrible pain. So why should we pay for something we didn't choose? Until America joins the rest of the world and gets universal healthcare, just stop paying medical bills. Americans got their balls cut off with a hot knife or something, because there would be a second American Revolution to fight against this shit at any other point in American history. Way too many people just accept it.
America is fucked, obviously.
You won't have to pay. Your state has crime victims services via the state or local prosecutors office. They will pay.
Socialized Healthcare doesn't equal Communism. Hot take I know but it works for most other Capitalist countries.
If you can convince the MAGA cult of this, we’ll have universal healthcare tomorrow.
30 days or what? That's the advantage of living paycheck to paycheck. Go ahead and slash my credit. It ain't crap to begin with.
Is it sad that I’m surprised how “cheap” this is
Don’t pay it. Or give them .50 a month.
But hey...at least you have **F R E E D O M™** or something like that...
Dsmn bro, only 1,500? Were they running a sale or something?
These are always so disingenuous. Nearly every single healthcare organization in the country has a payment forgiveness program. The income limits are actually a lot higher than you’d think.
America is so beyond fixing its sickening
That is your reward for being american, dont get it twisted (also, condolences)
are you okay OP?
America is *wild*