You used the county or cities medical team. Of course you have to pay.

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See page 30: http://www.ironman.com/~/media/22dedc606270468bad070e61cb238e37/2017%20im%20tx%20athlete%20guide%205.pdf
Looks like you first have to file with your insurance, then they cover what is left?

Good luck and post back with the resolution.

I took an ambulance ride to the med tent at IMAZ one year, never got a bill

Submit the claim to USAT, you do pay for some insurance there as well although it will be secondary to yours. They reimbursed me about $1000 after a June 2015 crash

I've only been to the med tent once and that was at Redman last September. I didn't get a bill.

Or maybe that was the filing fee for the Emergency TUE that you/your wife filed with USADA for the "bag of fluid"? ;)

https://www.usada.org/...ration-and-recovery/

Back to your original point, no I have never paid for my visits to the med tent, but I have also never taken the ambulance there.

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-Brad Williams
Website | Twitter: @BW_Tri |Instagram: @BW_Tri | Strava | Co-Founder & Coach at: KIS Coaching
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Another advantage of racing in Canada.

That is pretty crazy. I would like to hear how this all plays out. I will definitely opt out of any care if my mind is the state to decline. I'm glad to hear everything went ok with her!

i dont know where you are but in BC we have to pay a small amount for ambulance or ( road or air) transport. IIRC it is about 80 dollars if you are a resident of BC and more if you are not. I dont know how it would work in a race though. I would expect provincial tri association insurance to cover but Ive never looked into it.

 
I dropped out on the old IM Texas course in 2013. I got a ride back in the bike support vehicle. Not only was I not charged, I got a Gatorade and a banana out of it. SCORE!

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Once, I was fast. But I got over it.

Yeah that was my experience in Mont Tremblant. I actually had an ambulance ride to the ER (40 mins), and then an overnight stay there and still was under $1k, which my U.S. insurance then picked up most of.

If that had been in the U.S. I'd expect a couple thousand for the ambulance alone, and the ER would be more.

That's bizarre. I've had two ambulance rides to the med tent during an IM; never got a bill.

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Taco cat spelled backwards is....taco cat.

Same here. One ambulance ride. No bill. US.

Can you be more explicit about who billed you? Was it the ambulance service, county/city medical services, or WTC/IM texas?

Same thing...although they practically dragged me in there as I didn't look to good I guess. Also, in Kona one year, I passed out at the "Hot Corner" & woke up in the Med Tent. Never got charged. A lot of folks get Med Tent help or more than that at an Ironman. Never heard of this...possibly a new policy change? By the way, the Redman Med Team has about the best Med Tent I think I've seen anywhere (including Kona).

My wife had an ambulance ride earlier this year by a city provider. The bill was $2004. We have high deductible insurance and the deductible is well north of $2000. Insurance paid zero, and I politely called the ambulance billing department up, told them it would be a financial hardship. They immediately cut the bill by more than half and I negotiated $20 a month, zero interest payback for a total of $750. I then asked what about if I paid a single amount today? They offered me a lump sum payment of $500 would pay it off or over 75% discount. That offer was a one time offer, or at least they said that. I asked one more time if they could do less than $500, which they declined, so I did the $500 payment that day.

Good Luck.

edited for correct bill numbers.

Those guys operate just like scammers. Three years ago my wife signed a "contract" for an online listing with fake yellow pages. They have been sending bills monthly ever since. Every six months or so the address of the "company" changes. Its been in Toronto, New York, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland etc. They sent a few one time offers to settle for one third the original $1500 bill.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

Local EMS (Cypress Creek EMS). I'll call them with my insurance info. I have no problem paying for services provided, just caught me off guard a month after the fact. But in reality for medical billing that is light speed.

How did they get your wife's information? Did she give them your address and her SS #? I'm assuming no and they got the information from her bib number and then went to WTC to get your address. Assuming she never gave EMS or anyone her SS #, I don't know how they could ever get you pay up. They can't tie it to your credit score without your SS #.... at least that's my understanding. Unless there is some backdoor way to get her SS #.......

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I thought the were paid by WTC for the race? And I thought ironman/usat fees covered basic medical services include getting you off the course to a medical tent. Have you contacted wtc first? I wouldn't pay that until I talked to WTC and USAT. It's not like you were on the race course and called 911 to have somebody come get you. Honestly, not to be overly dramatic, but if people start thinking during an ironman that an ambulance ride to the medical tent will cost $1500, they might choose to just wait for a regular old SAG vehicle which is definitely not a good thing.