Can you negotiate down large medical bills (ambulance rides)?

Huh ? you asked if there is an effect to high cost and in a country where the costs are also pretty high it has actually been measured. So not sure where the Whataboutism is coming from…

Well actually if you take the total costs you would properly pay more. Problem is those cars are pretty expensive and have incredibly low runtime (since you have to have at least one for about maximum 10 min driving time). Basically, you are not only paying for the driving time, but for the infrastructure behind it (being close enough, having doctors available on call, having enough in case of multiple need at tge same time, the dispatch etc.)

Question is now : how much of this infrastructure is taken over by the community (through taxes) and how much is billed through the 10 min drive. And this differs from canton to canton (and can be seen through the respective tax rates).

And to the extend of my knowledge, the normal ambulances are state owned and are not making profit on the long run, they are allowed to only cover their long term costs (incl. provisions for renewal etc.).

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Sorry if that came out too rough. I was wondering what effect the current system and its cost could have in Switzerland and I didn’t see what the situation in other countries have to do with such question.

Just got this in a mail from Comparis, and suits this topic.

https://www.comparis.ch/krankenkassen/leistungen/krankenwagen-ambulanz

Of course Comparis is basically a sales site for insurance these days, so the recommendations will be biased.