Do you think disabled people should pay for parking at hospitals?

I think visitors of patients (particularly those who are at the hospital for hours on many days) should get a discount. I think all others should pay the same rate (e.g., in a garage) with disability parking convenient to elevators.

Agreed with @Kayak8. Just because they’re disabled doesn’t mean they can’t afford it.

I think all parking at hospitals should be free. That is one of my biggest pet peeves. Having had a loved one in the hospital many times, I always had to make sure I had cash on me to get out of the parking lots. A lot of the time it was emergency visits and I wasn’t prepared.

Why not? They want access like everyone else. They are parking a car. That is what the fee is for.

Disabled people tend to go to the doctor alot and when I say alot try going to the doctor on a daily basis with a disabled child. The hospital is making plenty of money from them and their insurance from just the shear amount that they are seeing the various doctors. At Boston Children’s they give a small discount but it was still $9.00 today for my daughter to see the metabolic doctor and we will be going back again to see her other specialists. I would like to see you pay that on a regular basis or as some of you are saying the $14 that it would have been if it was full price.

I think ALL parking should be free

The cost of parking is more based on the location. Hospitals in city locations simply don’t have enough space and do charge (discounted for patient and visitor) for all. I take a friend into Dana Farber in Boston and even with their Handicap placard it is $12 for a few hours. Much better than the $30–40 for all day parking. Hospitals outside the city usually have enough real estate to allow free parking for all.

It should cost money to park at a hospital.

I think parking should be free, given the mark up on many services provided by the hospital. They should be able to cover the costs elsewhere. Disabled or otherwise.

@creative1 @blueiiznh @Aethelflaed As @Mat74UK is in the UK, then hospital treatment there is free on the NHS, (just pay for prescriptions), and parking charges at all hospitals is now standard.

I think that parking charges should apply to parking of all cars, but I do think there should be a way of paying a reduced rate for regular visits. As so many of the carparks now have the option of phoning a number to pay for the charge, where you then register with that payment company, it would be possible for them to monitor your visiting frequency and make a smaller charge for each subsequent visit in one week/month.

Ideally I don’t feel anyone should have to pay to park in a hospital lot but if there is a charge for some, it should be for all who park a car.

Yes. Though I don’t think anyone in need of hospital care should have to pay for parking.