Ambulances now share a common feature with taxicabs: a meter fare machine.
In an aim to arrive at a standard fee for ambulance rides, a regulation taking effect on May 1 imposes ambulances to use a meter device similar to those found in a taxi, reported China Daily.
According to the Beijing Municipal Administration of Quality and Technology Supervision, meters were already fitted in 580 ambulances. Technicians tested these meters for accuracy prior to their installation.
Now that ambulances are running on a meter, it will now be clear to people how they arrived at a certain fee. For a 3-km ride, the patient will be charged 50 yuan plus 7 yuan for every additional kilometer.
People would still be required to pay 50 yuan if they sent for an ambulance but decided not to use it anymore for whatever reason.
The administration said that Beijing was the first city to act on standardizing ambulance fees.
For Deng Liqiang, a head at the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, although the base fee set by the government is higher compared to a taxi’s base rate, it is still “reasonable,” according to China Daily. Deng added that ambulances are not “ordinary vehicles.”
An ambulance does not only transport a person to a hospital, but it is also equipped with medical apparatuses that are used to stabilize or improve the person’s present condition during the entire trip.
Many people often complain of getting overcharged by ambulances.
For an 80-km ride in February, one woman from Shandong Province paid 3,600 yuan (some $550), according to BBC. The news site noted that the average Beijing employees receive half of that sum as their monthly salary.
In other countries, the same thing can be happening. In America, Joanne Freedman paid $900 for an ambulance ride that only covered two blocks, reported The New York Times.
Beijing residents can, at least, be assured now of a standard pricing scheme for ambulance fees.