Any idea how much long-distance medical transport costs?

AmyStack: I suggest an Angel Flight.

A friend's mom cannot fly because of heart issues, but they are going to try to move her from central California to Florida. She was given a rate close to $15,000 with an ambulance-type transport and assisted by nurses.

This is the company that we used in 2020. It’s owned by Veterans.
It was a very professional operation. Check out the website.

https://medic-trans.com/

Check with your local airport regarding a angel flight. This is volunteer flights at little or no cost.

In March of 2020 (at the height of Covid) I hired a company to bring my then 97 yo Mom from Florida to NYC. The cost was $7000 for door to door service, driving 20 hours. There were 2 drivers in front and an EMS person with Mom in a well outfitted medical vehicle (commode, a sofa and a hospital bed).
Mom is 99 now. I don’t think she would have survived in the assisted living facility in Florida had we not brought her back. The cost was worth it. Private air transport would have been $19K…. it made the $7K seem more reasonable.
it was a good decision.
Living in NY I would have been forced to quarantine for 2 weeks if I went to get her in Florida. For us it was the only option.

For a road journey, a small plastic urinal is easy, especially for men. There is a female funnel adapter that can go on top, if that’s easier to position. Cost $10. I had to use this when we did a long truck trip and I slept in the cabin.

You might be able to work the food so that he is unlikely to need a bowel movement, and also use a double diaper. If it’s needed, you can take the inner one out and manage with the second one. Probably messy, but worse things happen at sea! It's not a time for modesty, just for coping. Good luck, Margaret

You write: We could fly but that is a hassle too with airports and flights possibly being delayed. 

With dad not needing medical transport, you might want to google private pilot “angel flights.” Btw, the FAA stopped private pilots from letting passengers contribute money for gas unless it’s a commercial flight.

If it's at all possible for him to fly commercially, I'd go that route. It's less than an hour to fly from SLC to Denver, and I wouldn't want to be riding in some bumpy ambulance on I-70 over the Rocky Mountains with all the ski traffic, not to mention icy roads. It'll take forever, especially if some truck decides to jack-knife in Glenwood Canyon. Not sure if that would be worse or driving across Wyoming to Cheyenne on I-80 in a white-out ground blizzard.

Yep, I've done both drives in such conditions -- many times.

Its been 9 years but it was going to cost us 2000 to take MIL from central Fla to Atlanta GA 8 hrs away. Its not cheap.

My husband's bedridden aunt was taken from San Francisco to Oregon last year to move into a nursing home there. She's kind of nuts, so she decided that once she got to Oregon, she wasn't staying. She was back in SF two weeks later.

I don't know how she was transported, but she's bedridden, so it wasn't by commercial airline. The final round-trip cost for that little jaunt was $60,000!

Long shot here, but my parents paid for a policy with thier local ambu company, and we do now also for $50 a year... BECAUSE... when mom was in the hospital in Pa and we needed to get her into rehab in MD,, it was mostly covered. They got it because it covered thier ambu co pay, never thought about long distance transport.. but there it was in the fine print. She was in a stretcher and no way could we have transported her even the 100+ miles they did for free. Maybe see if he had one?

Call the actual ambulance company. My YB works for the biggest one in Utah, and I know he has done a few 'long haul' transports and I KNOW they are very pricey. It requires extra manpower, for one thing.

As far as bathroom breaks--they will probably have your dad use a urinal and not try to move him into a public bathroom. Worse yet, a side-of-the-road rest stop.

He could be catheterized for the duration of the trip--but I'd go with the urinal--and see if he can be given something to take the edge off the anxiety and stress. Ambulances are NOT built for long haul comfort, that's for sure!

If "bathroom issues" are the concern, have you thought about renting a RV for the drive. 6 hours isn't that far. A RV would give you a bathroom on board.

Your profile says he broke his neck in a skiing accident. How long ago was this? Just so you know if he goes by ambulance it will be a bumpy ride since they are pretty much a truck. Why don't you get an actual quote from an actual transport company? Why risk our guesses? What if we give you inaccurate info because you've not given us enough details? You won't be obligated if you get a quote -- I got one when I had to move my MIL.

I looked into this a couple years ago to move my dad from WV to MI. Dad had dementia, was recovering from a broken hip and was partially incontinent. A 600 mile trip was in the $10k range. My wife and I moved him ourselves, straight through, no motel. It was tough but we made it. I have a new appreciation for Family restrooms at rest stops on interstates now.

Why are you moving him? It may cause a severe and abrupt decline that he may or may not recover from.

I have no idea on cost, but will not be cheap by any means.

Medicare may pay it medically necessary. The reason for the move.

Googling I found this:
It will cost you roughly $10,000 to $20,000 for your average trip by air ambulance. A ground medical transport can run you around $3,500 or more per trip, dependent upon where the patient(s) are being transported to.