AmI liable for ambulance and hospital bills ifI was forced to accept treatment?
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AmI liable for ambulance and hospital bills ifI was forced to accept treatment?
I passed out at work and told them that i refused to call for an ambulance. However, they did anyway and I was made to go to the hospital. After all was said and done, they told me its not workmans comp. But why should I have to pay the bills when they made me go after I refused?
Asked on September 2, 2010 under Bankruptcy Law, Indiana
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 14 years ago | Contributor
If you refused to the ambulence crew when they showed up, you would have a good defense to having to pay the bill. Similarly, if once you were taken to the hospital, you simply walked out and refused treatment, you'd have a good case. But regardless of your original refusal, if you got into the ambulence and let the hospital examine you, you accepted the treatment and had to pay. And if you did that because your employer insisted you go and you went along with it rather than disobey and possibly be fired--which would be within your employer's right, since worrying about liability from an employee collapsing at work is legitimate--then that was your choice; you could have simply walked away, including, if necessary, from your job.
The above is admittedly harsh, but harsh doesn't change the fact that if, for whatever reason, you used ambulence and hospital services, you need to pay for them. If you have health insurance, check to see if it will pick up some or all of the cost.
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