Ambulance companies are starting to charge more to transport severely obese individuals. Now, before you start flashing back to the airlines trying to charge obese passengers more than everyone else scandal, they actually have a pretty legitimate gripe.

Transporting extremely overweight patients costs about 2½ times as much as “normal” weight people. It takes more time, specialty equipment and three to four times more crew members–which adds up to a lot more dollars.

In the past, ambulance companies often absorbed the extra expense of serving the obese, but in these tough times, along with the ever increasing obesity population, they just can’t do it anymore.

Ambulance companies are now adding extra costs to ambulance rides and transportation, similar to those charged to intensive care patients, and others with special needs. These costs will help pay for the specialty equipment and extra workers if they are necessary. Some, of course, say this is discrimination, and that the obese have a right to the same public service everyone else does, for the same price.

To me, it’s more sad that this is an issue in the first place. The problem isn’t the ambulance companies–because they have been absorbing the costs in the past. The problem is that obesity is so prevalent, and to such a degree that special equipment is often needed, that it is impossible to absorb those costs anymore.

What do you guys think? Discrimination of the severely obese, or an unfortunate consequence due to a growing epidemic?

(Pic courtesy of www.topnews.in)