Comment by jfim
2 days ago
The article argues the exact opposite:
> The standard answer is greed: rapacious ambulance operators, owned by villainous private equity firms, exploit patients at their most helpless. But I don’t think that’s actually what’s going on. Ambulance providers are chronically unprofitable businesses; margins are thin, crews are underpaid, and operators exit the industry every year.
That paragraph is somewhat incoherent at that point in the article: margins are razor thin — at a price tag of $12,000 per 6 miles or $2,000 per mile.
(Yes, there is some other stuff, much, much, much later that maybe cuts into that …)
The cost isn't about the actual mileage though, it's having two paramedics each earning about 100k/yr per ambulance, while having coverage 24x7x365. So fully loaded, the labor for one ambulance might be in the high six figures to seven figures.
Even if we assume we need to cover their downtime between rides, at a conservative estimate of "we're the only call today" that's $2400 of labor at your rate (≈$400/d, 2 paramedics, 3 shifts). TFA suggests they're not paid well.
Except the paramedics are actually making mcdonalds wages.