The cost of medical transport varies from being free of charge to thousands of dollars depending on the type of medical transportation a patient requires. Generally speaking air ambulance transportation is the most expensive and majority of air ambulance companies charge handsomely for their services. This makes sense as buying and fueling medical planes and helicopters is expensive for these companies. A water ambulance is generally much more affordable, but can still cost hundreds of dollars. The cheapest type of medical service transport is the ground ambulance, but regardless of the cost, at times insurance companies do not cover this type of medical service, which can end up costing a patient anywhere from six hundred dollars and up, depending on the transport company, patient’s location, types of medical services they require while being transported in the ambulance and many other factors.

There are many alternatives when it comes to medical transport including non-emergency transport services and private ambulance services. Then of course there are private medical transport companies and local senior/handicap transport companies. Patient’s insurance coverage may ultimately be the deciding factor in what kind of medical transport they can afford to use.

Given the number of different choices many patients have difficulty selecting the best option for their medical transport needs. If you can’t make up your mind or would simply like to know the approximate prices of emergency transport you can always use the toll free hotline of the U.S. Department of Transportation, which can tell you approximately what each service should cost in your area as well as the approximate cost of any medical units or medication that could be administered in the ambulance. This line was set up by the federal administration to educate people about what they can afford personally when it comes to these types of medical transport service and general availability of these services in their areas. The toll free line also has a great deal of information about the American air ambulance, which operates both domestically and internationally.

There are patient transport services (some private and some public), which provide facility to facility transportation for the critically ill as well as similar services that transport individuals who are not critically ill, but still in need of medical transportation.

There are many people who that need but cannot afford any kind of private medical transportation, so luckily there are some organizations that attempt to make it less expensive for people in need of transport. For instance, both the Mayo Health Organization and Ameritrans have medical transport services, ambulances and even ferry services that are not as expensive as other types of private medical transport services.

If you are under financial stress, there are also many different non-profit organizations that assist people who are ill and cannot afford critically needed ambulance services. Keep in mind that one of the problems with these services is that there are simply not enough of these types of services and there can be a long waiting list if you are in a need of free medical transportation.

Unfortunately it could be much harder to get a free ambulance in the case of a traffic accident. Free ambulance rides are very rare and most of the time you will have no choice but to pay the bill. Some transport companies will work out payment plans with added interest for those who find themselves unable to pay the bill for an ambulance, and in other cases insurance companies may cover the cost of an ambulance ride.