How a Surprise Bill Can Hitch a Ride to the Hospital

How did three siblings who took identical ambulance rides (from the same car wreck to the same hospital) end up with three wildly different bills? The answer lies in the No Surprises Act.

That law has protected patients from some of the most outrageous out-of-network medical bills since it took effect in 2022 — except when it comes to ground ambulances. Host Dan Weissmann and producer Emily Pisacreta unpack the story with Bram Sable-Smith of KFF Health News and PIRG’s Patricia Kelmar and share what to do if you get hit with an out-of-network ambulance bill.

“An Arm and a Leg” is a co-production of KFF Health News and Public Road Productions.

To hear all KFF podcasts, click here.

And subscribe to “An Arm and a Leg” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

This is original content from KFF Health News, a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism. It is reprinted here with permission.