Why is this abuse allowed to continue ..?
I agree that “something needs to be done” about health care.
Health care costs are crippling local governments.
It is a constant bargaining chip in wage/benefit negotiations.
These bums are costing you a fortune.
Ricky Alardo, a homeless alcoholic nicknamed Ricky Ricardo, swigs cheap vodka by day at his favorite corner in Washington Heights, then calls an ambulance to chauffeur him to the hospital for a free meal and a warm place to sleep, courtesy of taxpayers who fund his Medicaid benefits.
For a chronic caller like Alardo — who phones 911 four or five times a week — the annual medical bill can be as high as $300,000. Over 13 years, the length of time he has been abusing the emergency room, he has cost the medical system an estimated $3.9 million.
In Midtown, another bum, Robert, has faked emergencies to get food and shelter in ERs about 40 or 50 times in the past three years — and taxpayers pick up his tab, too.
Ricky and Robert are among the dozens of “frequent fliers” who clog the 911 system, tie up city ambulances, crowd emergency rooms and burn through Medicaid money.
Alardo, 53, phones 911 so regularly, medics know which calls are likely his.
“When Ricky passes on, I’ll probably even go to his funeral,” said one medic who works in Washington Heights. “I’ve seen him almost every day for the last 13 years.”
And, absolutely nothing is done about this problem.
This entry was posted on Monday, July 13th, 2009 at 5:26 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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