Uber Everywhere — Even to the Hospital

"I was in a cell fit for a murderer...my crime was having a heart attack," said Melissa Walsh, a single mother who was incarcerated for her inability to pay a $3000 fine charged for calling an ambulance due to a heart attack.

In the most gruesome of medical emergencies, a modern habit of taking the risk to drive or taking an Uber to the Hospital rather than calling an ambulance is an uneasy notion for any health activist. The price that comes with putting one's health first rids the moral desire to ensure their best health; it rids an ill individual of a fair chance to get the help they need.

One of the major underlying problems of the heavy ambulance price is that upon calling 911 for a medical emergency, the caller has a nearly equal chance of getting an ambulance from a private investment banker as opposed to one from the government. Furthermore, you're quite unlikely to ever tell the difference. While both are inevitably expensive, private investment bankers naturally tend to send the larger bills. The bills are separated into several wordy parts that seem to require a few Oxford University degrees to understand - a tactic that causes confusion to the common individual who isn't versed in financial and healthcare literacy. Like Melissa Walsh, these people are forced into an unforgiving system that punishes people for their inability to pay for, or even understand, the bills in front of them.

Unsurprisingly, these bills over $2000 for fifteen minutes ambulance rides aren't rare. NY Daily News journalist Gersh Kuntzman said she, "... couldn't understand how a $14 Uber became a $2,056.95 ambulance ride," regarding her daughter's twelve minute trip to the Emergency Room that caused a dent in her pockets. So, do we Uber to the hospital despite not having the proper equipment? Or do we face the consequences of horrible charges that the vast majority are unable to pay? It's a despicable system - one rooted in the deep classist ideals of American capitalism, a mass murderer of many.