Here is just one example of behavior that drives up health care costs. Any ideas of what could be done about it?
Two homeless men in Fresno have called for an ambulance an average of nearly twice a day for more than a year, racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs – and even more when they get to a hospital.
They are Fresno County's highest-volume ambulance users – "frequent fliers" as they are called in the business – and their 1,363 combined trips made up 1.34 percent of all American Ambulance calls in the county last year.
"I call all the time," Cesar Arana, 41, said while sitting on a bus-stop bench downtown. "I have a major problem with my liver."
Lonzel McPeters, 51, has seizures and says he grows concerned when he senses one coming on. "I'd be having seizures on a regular basis," said McPeters, wearing a neck brace to stabilize a broken C-7 vertebrae after a January seizure. "I call when I feel like I'm having seizures."
Calling 911 when there is no emergency is a crime and there is no law saying the men must be taken to a hospital, but ambulance officials err on the side of caution. They fear liability lawsuits such as a 1979 case in which a sick man called for an ambulance, was not picked up, and died.
"We do not refuse any service," said Dan Lynch, Fresno County's emergency medical services director. "If they want to go to the hospital, we will take them."
In 2011, Arana called an ambulance 710 times and McPeters 653 times. In the first 41 days of 2012, they have combined for 136 calls. Sometimes the men call an ambulance, are taken to a hospital and walk away if they have to wait too long. Then they'll call 911 for a return ride later.
