Woman Says EMS Charged Her $400 for a Blood Test They Said Was Free — "American Healthcare Is a Scam"

TikToker Anne Lee (@annxetime) went viral after calling the United States healthcare system a scam upon sharing her story of what happened after she fainted in public and someone called 9-1-1 on her behalf. She says Emergency Medical Services arrived on the scene and asked if she needed any help, which she promptly declined.

Anne says she informed the EMS workers that she didn't have insurance and was feeling fine. She didn't want to get any of her vitals checked, but they repeatedly told her several times that it was probably best if she received an assessment, since they were already there and it would be in her best interest.

Anne says she decline again, told them she felt fine and reiterated she didn't have insurance. The EMS workers replied that it was fine and that she wouldn't have to pay anything.

She ultimately agreed and they performed a blood test on her, a procedure that she said took about "3 minutes."

Later, Anne was outraged to receive a $399 bill for the test the EMS workers administered. She ranted about the questionable ethics of charging her that much money for essentially sitting in the back of a truck for three minutes and getting her finger pricked for a blood sample.

Anne said in the video, "American healthcare is a f------ joke. Like it's actually a f------ scam. OK, so the other day I fainted in public and I was fine. I was literally f------ fine I got right back up, and I was like, 'oops sorry about that.' I was fine. But, you know, someone called 9-1-1."

The TikToker continued, "And they came over and then they were like hey, 'Miss, um are you OK?' And I was like, 'yep, I'm fine.' And they're like, OK, well I think you should come out and like let us, you know."

Anne could see that they were attempting to administer care to her, but didn't want to have to pay.

"And I was like, 'nope, I don't have health insurance. I'm OK I don't want to do this.' And they're like, no like, 'but I really think you should let us run some tests' and I was like, 'nope I don't have health insurance and I'm not comfortable with this. I don't want to pay for this.'"

"HE LIED," she writes in a text overlay, and her narration continued. "It was literally like 3 minutes and all my vitals were good. I only said yes because they said I didn't have to pay."

She continued to say in her TikTok, "And they're like yeah no, no worries, we're gonna take care of that."

Throughout the video, she holds a bill up to the screen that shows she was charged $399, presumably for her visit from EMS workers. "Tell me why they f------ send me this bill for me sitting down in the back of their fire truck and getting my finger pricked for like a tiny blood sample just to see my vitals. That's literally all they f--king did. $400 for a prick?! Are you f------ kidding me?"

Other TikTokers in the comments section shared medical horror stories of their own. Some offered tips to argue down the cost of the bill, such as asking for itemized charges for the services provided.

Some users also claimed this was a "common" ploy enacted by EMS workers who respond to calls, and that Anne shouldn't pay the bill.

Despite having the highest medical care costs in the world, the United States only ranks 11th when compared to other industrialized nations when it comes to system performance, i.e., "dead last."