The city of Cleveland has apologized to the family of Tamir Rice after sending the 12-year-old boy’s estate a $500 claim for “emergency medical services rendered as the decedent’s last dying expense.”
The $500 for Rice’s ambulance bill, which has since been withdrawn, included $450 for life support he received and $50 for mileage for the five-mile trip from the park where he was shot to the hospital where he died.
The bill came up after Douglas Winston, the executor for Rice’s estate, contacted the city regarding any outstanding debts. Medicaid initially covered an estimated $179.90 of the bill, and the city absorbed the remaining balance. When the executor made the inquiry, it reopened the claim.
