New California law offers fresh protection from steep ambulance bills

Last year, Jennifer Reisz’s college-age daughter, Megan, was kicked in the chest multiple times by the family’s horse.

Megan fell to the ground, unable to move or speak. Though she was alone, her Apple Watch detected her distress and called 911.

She was taken to a hospital in Clovis, a city in Fresno County, near where the Reisz family lives.

But the severity of Megan’s injuries — four broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung — prompted doctors to transport her 12 miles by ambulance to the Level I trauma center at Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno.