In a rural area outside Florida’s Everglades National Park, Jeannette Parker, a wildlife biologist, spotted a stray cat wandering across the road, which looked skinny and sick. She offered that cat some tuna she had in her car and the cat bit her finger.
Parker recalls, “It broke my skin with his teeth.” She cleaned the wound.
She did some research about rabies as Miami-Dade County warned people about the potentially fatal disease during that time. She got concerned and immediately called the health department, which was closed at that time. So, she visited ER at Mariners Hospital, spent two hours there, received two types of injections and an antibiotic, and went home happily.
Here comes the shocker: the hospital bill of $48,513, with $46,422 of that total for a preventive medication – rabies immune globulin.
The CDC says, “The post-exposure preventive treatment for rabies, which includes the immune globulin and four doses of vaccine given over a two-week period, usually costs more than $3,000 on average. An estimated 40,000 to 50,000 people annually get such treatments following exposure to potentially rabid animals.”
In the wildlife biologist’s case, the majority of the hospital bill was for the rabies immune globulin. For this shot alone, the hospital billed her $46,422.
Parker was stunned after receiving the bill so she requested for an itemized bill from her insurer.
She said, “I saw that immune globulin was expensive, but it wasn’t that expensive. I sat on it for a while because I was upset. Finally, I went by the hospital to confirm, and they said, yes, that is right.”
Parker’s husband’s union health plan paid $34,618 toward her total hospital bill, including $33,423 for the immune globulin alone.
She said, “My funeral would have been cheaper.”
Parker learned from her insurer that the cat bite is considered an accidental injury so she is eligible for 100 percent coverage according to her insurance plan. She requested the hospital to resubmit the bill to the health plan to see whether it will pick up the rest of her 10 percent share of the cost. However, the hospital has not offered to lower the price of the rabies immune globulin to its current bill.
Nevertheless, the key point is get treated if you suspect you may have exposed to rabies. Parker made a careful and sensible decision of seeking immediate and appropriate medical attention.
And if you get a hospital bill that mentions an astounding amount, simply get the itemized bill rather than just a summary of it. Please use the Hospital chargemasters that are publicly available on hospital websites. Make sure you check how the price you have been billed and share that information with your employer’s HR department.
