LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A mom’s worst worry got here true when her 11-month-old son suffered a seizure, however the actual headache began when she acquired the invoice for the ambulance experience.
In January, Katelyn Lopez discovered her son Maxzen Lopez, then 11 months previous, seizing on the ground of their North Las Vegas house. Katelyn known as 911 for assist, and paramedics from the North Las Vegas Hearth Division quickly arrived to supply medical care.
Physique digicam video the 8 Information Now Investigators obtained by means of a data request reveals paramedics attending to Maxzen as they ask Katelyn about his current medical historical past.
“No medical problems — he’s been sick,” Katelyn stated within the video as first responders are likely to her son.
In January, Katelyn Lopez discovered her son Maxzen Lopez, then 11 months previous, seizing on the ground of their North Las Vegas house. (Katelyn Lopez)
“And that is when I thought, ‘OK, he’s going to go,'” Katelyn remembered from that night. “I’m shouting, ‘He’s going to die. He’s not breathing.’”
Paramedics would decide Maxzen suffered a febrile seizure — a seizure introduced on by a fever. It may be frequent in kids however scary for any dad or mum.
Inside minutes of their arrival, paramedics introduced Maxzen right into a metropolis ambulance and later transported him to College Medical Middle.
Months later, Katelyn is left with the agony of the price of that experience.
In January, Katelyn Lopez discovered her son Maxzen Lopez, then 11 months previous, seizing on the ground of their North Las Vegas house. (NLVPD)
“At what point did it go from, ‘This is an emergency’ to ‘this is going to cost me money?’” 8 Information Now Investigator David Charns requested Katelyn.
“Honestly, not until I got the bill,” she stated.
A number of months after the emergency experience, Katelyn acquired a invoice from town for $1,624.04 — about $1,200 for the experience itself plus $35 per mile to the hospital. The invoice states the household’s well being insurer, UnitedHealthcare, denied the declare as a result of it was not “provided [in] network” and was not a “primary care [provider].”
“My husband served,” Katelyn stated. “We work full-time. We pay our taxes. “
North Las Vegas’ ambulance charges are set every year and are posted on-line. They’re just like different communities in Southern Nevada, together with unincorporated Clark County. (KLAS)
North Las Vegas’ ambulance charges are set every year and are posted on-line. They’re just like different communities in Southern Nevada, together with unincorporated Clark County. Some departments contract with non-public ambulance firms to supply the identical service on the identical charges.
“While tax dollars provide for the service to be readily available to everyone, a user fee is charged for those transported to pay for the cost of the service based on the level of service provided (treatment modalities/levels based on patient condition),” a North Las Vegas spokesperson stated. “The fee is only charged when a patient is transported to a receiving facility, not for medical aid provided at the scene. In most cases, a large portion is taken care of by insurance, Medicaid or Medicare. Additionally, the city has processes in place to provide assistance to those unable to pay their bills based on income levels. Our charges and revenue recovery do not offset our cost of providing the service but help to be able to continue to provide our high level of service.”
The spokesperson stated the fee handed on after an ambulance experience helps cowl the price of medical provides and gear and dietary supplements the service taxpayers cowl.
The No Surprises Act, a federal legislation enacted in 2022, helps shield customers from shock medical payments, however doesn’t cowl floor ambulance service.
Patricia Kelmar is the senior director of well being care campaigns at U.S. PIRG, a client advocacy and analysis group. (KLAS)
“This is a situation that many people are facing,” stated Patricia Kelmar, the senior director of well being care campaigns at U.S. PIRG, a client advocacy and analysis group. “We know every day people are making that really difficult choice of, ‘Do I call 911 for the care that I need?’ And, ‘Will that call end up bankrupting my family?’”
Kelmar helped move the No Surprises Act, which reduces the probabilities of a shock invoice when seeing an out-of-network supplier throughout emergencies or paying for expensive in-network protection. She not too long ago labored with a workforce to ship a report back to Congress in regards to the legislation’s lack of ambulance protection.“What we’re all surprised by is how often there is no contracted rate with our insurance company and our local ambulance that’s going to give us the security of knowing that we’re just going to pay a normal copay, and that’s what we’re trying to solve,” Kelmar stated.
Katelyn had no different possibility however to name for an ambulance, she stated. She is extraordinarily grateful to the paramedics who helped her and Maxzen in the course of the emergency.
UnitedHealthcare’s workplaces as seen on Sept. 15, 2025, in Las Vegas. (KLAS)
“Because the other option was what?’” Charns requested.
“100 miles an hour trying to drive myself and my son to UMC, until of course Metro pulls me over and then I have a CPS case,” she stated.
After getting the $1,624.04 invoice, Katelyn appealed to UnitedHealthcare, she stated. The corporate despatched her to a third-party negotiator who helped decrease the payment to about $900.
The 8 Information Now Investigators later contacted UnitedHealthcare in regards to the invoice.
The 8 Information Now Investigators later contacted UnitedHealthcare in regards to the invoice. (KLAS)
“After reviewing the situation, it appears there was some confusion between the provider and our member,” a spokesperson stated, after Katelyn signed a kind permitting her son’s well being care info to be shared. “We have spoken directly with our member to clarify that Maxzen’s care was covered and that the cost was applied under their deductible in accordance with their employer-sponsored plan.”
As a result of the incident occurred in January, in the beginning of the yr, the fee can be utilized to the household’s deductible — which means they’re paying it anyway as a part of the phrases of their plan.
Months after the expensive experience, Maxzen, mother and the household are wonderful, however the ache of coping with the billing headache has but to heal.
“What other options do we have? We don’t,” Katelyn stated, “So you kind of feel like you’re being taken advantage of your crisis.”
Maxzen Lopez and his household are thriving within the aftermath of his January emergency. (Katelyn Lopez)
A consultant from UnitedHealthcare added that the corporate was masking all remaining charges as nicely.
Shopper advocates are pushing lawmakers in Washington to amend the No Surprises Act to incorporate floor ambulance service.
Full assertion from North Las Vegas:
Resulting from affected person confidentiality, we’re not capable of focus on particular person circumstances, however I may give you an summary of ambulance transport providers in North Las Vegas.
Ambulance transport charges are the norm all through the nation. Whereas tax {dollars} present for the service to be available to everybody, a person payment is charged for these transported to pay for the price of the service based mostly on the extent of service offered (therapy modalities/ranges based mostly on affected person situation). The payment is barely charged when a affected person is transported to a receiving facility, not for medical assist offered on the scene. Most often, a big portion is taken care of by insurance coverage, Medicaid or Medicare. Moreover, the Metropolis has processes in place to supply help to these unable to pay their payments based mostly on earnings ranges. Our costs and income restoration don’t offset our value of offering the service however assist to have the ability to proceed to supply our excessive stage of service.
Charges are established by every jurisdiction however have routinely been about the identical for all jurisdictions within the valley. The non-public ambulance firms cost the identical transport charges as the hearth departments of their jurisdictions as a result of their ambulance franchise agreements prohibit them from charging greater than the municipality has established.
Our charges are practically the identical as the opposite entities within the valley and quite common charges from all through the nation. The Hearth Division sustains vital bills for the life-sustaining medical provides and gear paramedics have out there on every of our automobiles however it’s essential to our mission. Moreover, personnel and coaching prices for offering medical care are vital, not in contrast to any medical facility or supplier.
Kathleen Richards, Communications Supervisor, Communications
8 Information Now Investigator David Charns will be reached at [email protected].
