A 2016 study found that a third of cancer survivors had gone into debt as a result of their medical expenses, and 3 percent had filed for bankruptcy. The finding was only the latest in a long string of statistics suggesting that many Americans who have faced major health scares face significant financial setbacks afterward. (The survey respondents could choose multiple factors that contributed to their bankruptcy.) That was more than the percentage who cited home foreclosure or student loans. According to a survey published this month in the American Journal of Public Health, nearly 60 percent of people who have filed for bankruptcy said a medical expense “very much” or “somewhat” contributed to their bankruptcy. Medical debt is a uniquely American phenomenon, a burden that would be unfathomable in many other developed countries. Lockett was about to join the ranks of Americans who live with crippling amounts of medical debt. “But at the same time, that was really scary to me, not being able to talk.” “Dang, I knew I shouldn’t have gone to the hospital,” she remembers thinking. Lockett had been charged $26,203.62 total for “observation,” which the bill instructed her to pay within 20 days. The hospital performed tests and sent her home, where she recovered fully. It turned out that she had suffered a transient ischemic attack, or a mini-stroke. Paramedics sped her a few miles to Emory University Hospital Midtown, where she was held overnight.
Lockett, who was 57 at the time and uninsured, didn’t know whether she could or should refuse the ambulance ride or decide which hospital it would take her to. A few people, noticing that something wasn’t right, walked Lockett to another room and called an ambulance.
She tried to speak into the mic, but the words that came out didn’t make sense.Ī friend walked up and grabbed Lockett by the arm. As she stepped up to the podium to give her remarks, she noticed that her words were slurring. The previous night, she had stayed up late making her presentation, and then deleted it by mistake. A committee of metro Atlanta area EMS officials was set up last year to evaluate the provider’s performance and make recommendations for improvement.In April 2016, Venus Lockett was about to give a speech at an event she’d volunteered for near her home in Atlanta. In south Fulton County, it has yet to deliver on a promise to provide a nine-minute response to life-threatening calls. He told the AJC he wasn’t surprised to learn of Grady’s dismissal from AU, saying the allegations about its service were alarming.Īugusta isn't the only region of the state where Grady has faced criticism for failing on a pledge to provide adequate services. “It didn’t make a lot of sense” to hire a provider from Atlanta, the former commissioner told the AJC. Wayne Guilfoyle, a member of the Richmond County Board of County Commissioners at the time Grady was hired, said he and others had lots of questions when Grady received a contract to operate non-emergency ambulance services in a metropolitan area of the state it had never served.Īt the time it was meeting with AU officials, Guilfoyle said, Grady was also meeting with county commissioners to make a bid for an exclusive contract for emergency services in Richmond. In contrast, contracts for 911 service typically draw lower reimbursements because people who need emergency transport don’t always have insurance or often can be under-insured. Most patients who need services are paying customers, represented by private insurance or federal reimbursement. The AU contract was a bonanza for Grady because it represented an opportunity to make the largest profits. By 2018, it had snatched up 911 and specialty transport agreements with dozens of local jurisdictions, making it among the largest EMS providers in Georgia. When Grady was awarded its contract for general transports in Augusta, it was expanding services all over the state. All employee licenses were up to date, Grady said. They explained many of the issues as a miscommunication regarding data systems and employee licensure information that was contained in their human resources department that had not been available to the hospital. In response to AJC questions, Grady officials denied any misconduct.
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