Need to call an ambulance? It’s about to get more expensive in New York City. The FDNY confirmed the city’s budget crunch combined with rising costs means getting transported to the hospital will cost more. The price for a trip that includes basic life support — or just a ride to the ho spital in an ambulance — would go up from $1,385 to $1,793. For treatment in place, where medical aid is provided at the scene of the emergency, the cost would go from $630 to $896. “Who pays in the end? The consumer, because your premium will go up,” said Queens City Councilwoman Joann Ariola, the chair of the Fire and Emergency Management Committee. Ariola, a Republican, said the possible price spike stems from Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s preliminary budget, in which every agency was asked to make cuts. Mamdani previously called the cuts “the most aggressive savings we can pursue without impacting essential services of city government.” The FDNY acknowledged that cutting costs plus negotiating a contract with the paramedics and EMTs, who have been working without one since 2022, will lead to the higher prices.  “Maybe insurance companies will pay. Or Medicaid will pay. But will Medicare pay? Who’s calling ambulances, but old people on Medicare for the most part,” said Ariola. The unions for EMTs and paramedics continue to say that response times are slower, with not enough paramedics and EMTS to staff the ambulances. They blame low pay for a staffing shortage.  “To live on $39,000 in a city like ours is just disgraceful,” said Oren Barzilay, of the EMS workers union. “For us to bring in money to the city and not have a contract is really insulting to the workforce, and endangers the people of New York, which is more important,” said Vincent Variale of the EMS service officers union. The higher prices could take effect July 1, if no changes are made to the mayor’s preliminary budget. ...read more read less