Scam? EMS Services contract?!!!

[ExplodingBoy]

I got a letter in the mail the other day that looks like a scam. It is from an outfit that identifies itself as providing EMS services (i.e. ambulance) for the area. It goes on about how important it is to make sure you have an ambulance when you need it. There is a form you fill out and send in; for $40 they "guarantee" you ambulance service for a year. But then there is also info about how you shouldn't worry because they only bill your insurance.

Anyway I live in the area where there are a lot of seniors so I wonder if this outfit is preying on seniors who might be conned into thinking they have to sign up for a contract for EMS services. I am thinking of getting in contact with my local ambulance corps to find out more but I was wondering what the rest of y'all think.

Do you think this is a scam or what?

 

[kranky]

Our local EMS (certainly not a scam) sends out the same type of mailers every year. Yes, you get coverage for ambulance service if you need it, but it also is a fundraiser for them.

The advantage of being a "member" is that if your insurance doesn't cover all the costs of an ambulance trip (or if you have no insurance at all), you won't have to pay the difference out of your own pocket. So if you don't sign up, and you have a $500 ambulance trip and your insurance only covers $250, you'd have to pay the remaining $250 out of your pocket.

I never noticed that they implied it was mandatory to sign up.