Ambulance Service isn't a Fit with Private Enterprise

   Ambulances service is not a thing you can operate through free-market competition. When it is time to call an ambulance, you can't dial three competitors and get price quotes. Indeed, you have but one number to call -- 911 -- and no choice is made.
   Nor is ambulance service something for which you need an owner. If you have the EMTs, the ambulance and all the equipment, they can do the trick whether there is an owner sitting at the top or not. So, why have an owner? That just adds unnecessary expense. If we took all our post offices nationwide, and gave each one an owner, might we not have to increase our prices to pay for the owners' salaries?
   So, this might not be a time when private enterprise is the answer. Ambulance service might be a situation for which we are best off letting government do the task.
   Most communities today, I would guess, allow just one franchise in their community. Just one. Competition doesn't fit well into this profession. If you had Red Ride Ambulance and Blue Car Ambulance both serving Dannaville, one ambulance would get a call and the other would be just sitting there. For the most part, by the time another call came in, they both would be sitting again. So, if there is only enough business for one, why have two firms waiting?
   Once again, we can see ambulance service doesn't fit into the free-market model.
   Insurance? I do wonder how much of an ambulance bill goes for liability insurance. Actually, I don't hear of many lawsuits against ambulance firms, but there surely must be some. So, in steps the insurance company. It should not go lost on us that if an insurance agent is to be paid, that, too, is an expense. We are not only paying a fee to be banked away for when the ambulance service loses a liability case, but we are paying additional money to support the insurance company, itself.
   But, if we've already established that government is the best fit for running ambulance service, why even have insurance? Let the government pay out for the lawsuit when the lawsuit comes, and save yourself all the money that goes just to support the insurance executives.