Jeannette Parker, an animal-loving biologist, stopped to feed a stray cat in a rural area outside Florida's Everglades National Park. Instead of showing appreciation, the cat bit her.Jeannette Parker, an animal-loving biologist, stopped to feed a stray cat in a rural area outside Florida's Everglades National Park. Instead of showing appreciation, the cat bit her.Compassion for a hungry stray kitten led to a nip on the finger — and also took a bite out of Jeannette Parker's wallet.
She then drove back to her home in the Florida Keys and called the health department, but it was closed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 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, the CDC says. Each hospital can set its own prices for treatment.
Parker thought that seemed high after she requested and received an itemized bill from her insurer, so she Googled it.expensive," she said."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.'"
ABatemanHouse Bye, bye cat.
KatyMoeller I went to the ER for a dog bite from fear of rabies & they sent me away. Wouldn’t even deign to look at my insurance card.
in the more civilised countries it's $0.00.
“My funeral would have been cheaper.” Hey audreydutton 👆Check out this NPR story
jasonsavinon The price in India. Less than 10 dollars.
Surely a mistake?
Florida. Says it all red state hell. Was Matt Gaetz the guy doing the billing?
That's why we should not have pets
JerryOD God bless America.
So the obvious answer is to force everyone by law to pay into and uphold this corrupt system in the hopes that it would drive down costs🤔
This is insane but a reality many have to face with our greedy health care system
This is also a good reminder not to try to touch or interact with wild/stray animals without proper training and protection. The likelihood of rabies in that small kitten was probably small but not zero risk.
I had post exposure rabies treatment a few years ago after being but by a feral cat in Mexico. After insurance the bill was still around $12,000.
Hospitals only care about money. Doctors only care about money.
😮😮😮😮👎
Our statement for the first round of shots for a family of three. Three more rounds to go.
Moral of the story: IT COSTS $48 THOUSAND DOLLARS TO FEED STRAY ANIMALS!😖
And IvankaTrump believes IN HER HEART this woman will want to work to pay this bill. IvankaLegacy IvankanShowedHerTrueSelf
I'm Canadian. I was bit by a cat I owned years ago. Severe infection. IV antibiotics for a week then an oral prescription. I paid $0.00 out of my pocket. The American medical system baffles me.
That's crazy.
It's time to put an end to Big Pharma. They turned medical care into big business and are extorting the American people. This is a grave injustice.
Lesson learned, Next time you see a stray cat, run it over instead of picking it up, and go look for a stray dog to save
It is disturbing to know that hospitals can charge exorbitant prices and claim it’s because of chargemaster. In the ACA era there should be more transparency. There should be the same cost of drugs everywhere. And who always gets hurt footing the bill? We the people. Ridiculous!
She's dumb for approaching the cat in the first place.
Yes, but MAGA, and our bestest president ever is building bridges with NK for Papa P, who cares about affordable healthcare...only filthy socialists!😤
madcatdisease But sure, America. Socialised medicine is scary. eyeroll
Currently, the going price for the series of rabies shots is 10k. Which is absurd. The series of 3 shots for vaccination coat $300 in 1992. $48k is making up for the pts who can't pay or whose insurance pays very little for care. weneedsinglepayer
You see! This is what's wrong with America. Cats.
Sums up American values perfectly. Bite the hand that feeds you and send a big invoice for it.
The real kicker, the hospital is 'a faith-based nonprofit chain'
Is this how the “free market” or “market based solutions” make Heath care in America better?
I don’t believe one of my colleagues bit you. You ma’am are the new Jussie smollet. I bet you paid two Nigerian cats to attack you and yell meowga!
Bernie2020 ?
And I can tell you as an employee of a major insurance company for 22 years that if she has ins this bill will only cost about $2,500 but any lay person on the street has to pay the 48? This is why I keep saying we need Healthcare regulation on what they can charge & not insuranc
There are critical themes here—the lunacy of the moment in complete lack of transparency; the radical cost that gives a terrible reputation to the legitimate tens of billions spent by pharma to develop drugs; and the need for a predictable, reasonable system all the time.
My mother has had: two hips, a knee, and a shoulder replaced. Bladder cancer, thyroid and cataracts. If I stay on her good side, I’ll still get an inheritance. Canadians might have to wait a bit, but you’re front of the line if it’s serious and no bankruptcy!!
Pricing must be transparent - it should be our right as patients to know charges up front!
Bet she won’t do that again!
Obamacare was a scam. It was not affordable nor good healthcare. It made politicians and big insurance companies rich on the back of the poor. Liberals claiming that they care. What a joke.
Rabies? Really. Maybe cat scratch fever. Next time she should hit the cabinet for some Neosporin. Unlikely a band-aid was even necessary for a kitten nip. Her expense is her own ridiculous overreaction of paranoia. Pay up
Unjust enrichment on the part of the hospital. Shame on them.
This is extortion, plain and simple.
She is a fish and wildlife biologist and she did not know better then to try to hand feed a wild and sickly looking cat by hand? And she had to research rabies? Hope she is ok but, geeze.
That’s insanity optimised
Was the emergency room visit not covered?
A 'nonprofit' hospital
The cost of frivolous lawsuits
Non profit? Really?
The county heath dept. should have been able to give her the shots much more economically.
Stray kitten! First warning!
Why didn’t she go to a “doc in the box”?
Wonderful example of how much US health care costs are inflated to provide that lucrative profit margin.
Healthcare in this country is disgusting. All about greed.
Jesus Christ
npr trumpcare
I really hate the greed in out medical and health systems....they leave you worse off than you were before you saw them. If I ever get a bill like that...they can take me to court....I will not let them try to rob me....it's total BS what we are allowing these and big Pharma do
So, a wildlife expert had to 'do some research online' to discover that you can get rabies from a stray cat bite? She only had to pay $4000 out of the total. She wanted it covered as accidentally injury, having gone out of her way to attempt to feed a potentially feral stray cat?
We can’t afford Single payer.
Welcome to America!
Prior to 1973, healthcare was non profit. Nixon and kaiser Permanente changed all that. Hello big insurance, big pharma and healthcare.
Well dang it lady, employees need to get paid, Gauze ain't cheap you know, you should be happy they could have just let you die, some people
saraiserrano
How hospitals 'juice' drug prices. Needed a Z-pack; ER wanted to give me 1st dose- said F-that, just give me script.. - Fear of rabies from kitten bite, hospital gave her 2 injections, 1 antibiotic. Bill totaled $48.5K 95% for rabies vaccine 10X reg price
That is crazy.
I mean, okay, this is bad, but if you think it's even remotely possible the cat could have rabies, why would you try to feed it by hand? Also, why would you try to do this without health insurance? Bad judgement.
Only in the U.S. HealthCareForAll
Why is there a health care crisis one would ask?
Things like this are “Making America Great Again”, right? Medical system is just deplorable and totally criminal
But the republicans have a great plan to get everyone affordable health care......... Oh wait. That’s right..... THEY DON’T!!!
Thanks to our government covering the cost of medical care. The cost of medical care has gone through the roof. We need more government involvement to solve this!!!!!!
In the eighties, I went to Mariners for a pregnancy test, they said it was negative. My negative test just had a daughter of his own
Rabies? Cat? Um kinda dumb from going to hospital but yeah do you have any idea how much a box of tissues cost and it's a small box. Hell yeah they will charge the crap out of you for everything.
US health Care system is based on greed.
Rabies shots in Israel: under $100. The lie that gop spreads that affordable care is unaffordable is a lie for american people that drains America of income and makes a few very wealthy, the few that happen to be leadership of republicans
There is a suite of benefits afforded to the entire person deemed “100% service connected” by the VA. How easily can that be expanded to everyone? What if a 50% cut in the Pentagon budget companioned this expansion of human rights?
In the majority of developed countries it would have been free. Sort this out, America.
Health care system in the US is not broken but not effective.
This is criminal. Big Pharma has to be held to account, it just won't be the Republicans who will do it, we have a better chance with Democrats in charge. I'm not naive enough to think that some Democrats don't accept Big Pharma campaign contributions, Ripping off the patient.
Aaaahh! The good ole American health system and it's affordable healthcare. 😐 MedicareForAll
This country's healthcare system evil and psychotic
MedicareForAll
MedicareForAll now!
The only thing that could improve that story is if she is an anti-vaxer.
Yikes!
The American healthcare model is designed to fleece you to the point of bankruptcy. Time for Universal Healthcare and the end of predatory medical practices.
Unbelievable
Canadians: “Why would a hospital bill you for injections?”
Hi Mem, you r grate but the treatment is too expensive