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Last Christmas, we got a tree from a local farm in the mountains. We had the tree trimmed and decorated before we discovered a sleeping (hibernating?) bat on th

Last Christmas, we got a tree from a local farm in the mountains. We had the tree trimmed and decorated before we discovered a sleeping (hibernating?) bat on the inside. We got it moved outside, but it took about 24 hours before I realized that I should call County Health. By that point, the bat was gone, and county health suggested I receive rabies treatment, but call my doctor. The bat could have bit or scratched without us realizing it. The doctor concurred. Rabies treatment must be done at the ER. They strongly recommended everyone in the house receive treatment if we could not 100% rule out physical contact. (We couldn't.) Me, my wife, my kids, EACH receiving the immunoglobulin and four rounds of vaccines at the ER. We ran the first ER out of the treatment so the kids had to go somewhere else. Also, those are big needles. The treatment ended up billing insurance over $100,000. (Almost all of that is the immunoglobulin.) We also had to return to both ERs, three times each, with the last time being on Christmas morning. There is research that says immunoglobulin is _likely_ not necessary if you have no visible bites, but it's current health policy in the USA, and no doctor wants to be the first to undertreat. Most expensive Christmas tree ever.

unsupp0rted 2y ago
I had the same treatment in South Korea a few years ago, including immunoglobulin. It cost about $4,000 or so
- PartiallyTyped 2y ago
  US absurdities aside, I find it ridiculous that people need to pay for something that will save their life.
  - southernplaces7 2y ago
    Really? That's your only criteria for thinking it's absurd? People need food to live, water too, and also clothing. Is it absolutely insane that all of these cost money? I'm not defending the insane billing system of the U.S, because it truly is designed to be or at least accidentally off the wall with absurdities, but it's not ridiculous to charge people reasonably for many complex, expensive things that also require hiring specialist assistance. Somewhere down the line, somebody in any case needs to pay for it via money and time.
    - jiwidi 2y ago
      I think is the unreasonable ammounts that people end up paying in US that make it crazy to understand for non US. For me as an European, i see anything related to healthcare as core to our society. You mention food, if i dont like an apple from a vendor i can just have another fruit that is cheaper this season. I wouldn't have that choice to change meds for my current ilnesses. Yeah sure someone has to pay for it, but do meds need a 10000x markup compared to the 2x markup on food? US is such an advanced country in terms of science and tech that is scary to think people still die due to not being able to pay their cancer treatment.
      - arethuza 2y ago
        As Aneurin Bevan said: "Illness is neither an indulgence for which people have to pay, nor an offence for which they should be penalised, but a misfortune the cost of which should be shared by the community."
        MichaelZuo 2y ago
        How does this make sense when some people intentionally do things that cause illness? And it’s not just Americans either, for example some Japanese like to intentionally eat fugu, meat from super poisonous puffer fish prepared in a very specific way. Surely there’s no expectation for society to pay millions to treat someone who ate the 99.99th percentile fugu slice…
        arethuza 2y ago
        Loads of people do things that might result in a visit to hospital - my wife was hospitalised after a climbing accident (with a mountain rescue team and separate helicopter based team), I've been treated for cycling accidents and because one of our cats bit me... You can either accept the vast bureaucracy of evaluating risk and paying for each bit of treatment or the much simpler and cheaper option of paying for it in taxes and giving everyone the same level of basic care and not worrying too much about the fugu eaters...
- serjester 2y ago
  Even in South Korea it doesn’t exactly sound cheap - I really wonder what makes a 150 year old, mass produced vaccine so expensive. Haven’t we figured out how to produce it cheaply.
  - unsupp0rted 2y ago
    I assume the bulk of the cost is the immunoglobulin, but no idea
justinclift 2y ago
> The treatment ended up billing insurance over $100,000. Yep, that definitely confirms you're in the US. ;)
not_a_bot_4sho 2y ago
Omg that's an expensive Christmas. Glad to hear everyone was alright, but that cost is insane.
plagiarist 2y ago
Hopefully your insurance covered a lot of that $100,000. That's astronomical.
edm0nd 2y ago
How much did your insurance cover and how much did you have to pay out of pocket?
zabzonk 2y ago
> Most expensive Christmas tree ever Would have been even more expensive if the USA had UK laws- in the UK disturbing bats is an offence. Also, unless you really think you need it (just finding a bat is not enough), you don't want to take rabies vaccine. But IANAMD.
mynameishere 2y ago
I've walked through swarms of bats without a care in the world. You came within ten feet of a sleeping bat and put your family through a medical grinder. Different strokes.
- nfinished 2y ago
  Weird flex in the comments on an article about someone who interacted with a bat, didn't get treated, then died.
testfoobar 2y ago
I'm sorry for you and your family. This is a catastrophic thinker's literal nightmare.

unsupp0rted 2y ago

I had the same treatment in South Korea a few years ago, including immunoglobulin. It cost about $4,000 or so

PartiallyTyped 2y ago
US absurdities aside, I find it ridiculous that people need to pay for something that will save their life.
- southernplaces7 2y ago
  Really? That's your only criteria for thinking it's absurd? People need food to live, water too, and also clothing. Is it absolutely insane that all of these cost money? I'm not defending the insane billing system of the U.S, because it truly is designed to be or at least accidentally off the wall with absurdities, but it's not ridiculous to charge people reasonably for many complex, expensive things that also require hiring specialist assistance. Somewhere down the line, somebody in any case needs to pay for it via money and time.
  - jiwidi 2y ago
    I think is the unreasonable ammounts that people end up paying in US that make it crazy to understand for non US. For me as an European, i see anything related to healthcare as core to our society. You mention food, if i dont like an apple from a vendor i can just have another fruit that is cheaper this season. I wouldn't have that choice to change meds for my current ilnesses. Yeah sure someone has to pay for it, but do meds need a 10000x markup compared to the 2x markup on food? US is such an advanced country in terms of science and tech that is scary to think people still die due to not being able to pay their cancer treatment.
    - arethuza 2y ago
      As Aneurin Bevan said: "Illness is neither an indulgence for which people have to pay, nor an offence for which they should be penalised, but a misfortune the cost of which should be shared by the community."
      - MichaelZuo 2y ago
        How does this make sense when some people intentionally do things that cause illness? And it’s not just Americans either, for example some Japanese like to intentionally eat fugu, meat from super poisonous puffer fish prepared in a very specific way. Surely there’s no expectation for society to pay millions to treat someone who ate the 99.99th percentile fugu slice…
        arethuza 2y ago
        Loads of people do things that might result in a visit to hospital - my wife was hospitalised after a climbing accident (with a mountain rescue team and separate helicopter based team), I've been treated for cycling accidents and because one of our cats bit me... You can either accept the vast bureaucracy of evaluating risk and paying for each bit of treatment or the much simpler and cheaper option of paying for it in taxes and giving everyone the same level of basic care and not worrying too much about the fugu eaters...
serjester 2y ago
Even in South Korea it doesn’t exactly sound cheap - I really wonder what makes a 150 year old, mass produced vaccine so expensive. Haven’t we figured out how to produce it cheaply.
- unsupp0rted 2y ago
  I assume the bulk of the cost is the immunoglobulin, but no idea

justinclift 2y ago

> The treatment ended up billing insurance over $100,000. Yep, that definitely confirms you're in the US. ;)

not_a_bot_4sho 2y ago

Omg that's an expensive Christmas. Glad to hear everyone was alright, but that cost is insane.

plagiarist 2y ago

Hopefully your insurance covered a lot of that $100,000. That's astronomical.

edm0nd 2y ago

How much did your insurance cover and how much did you have to pay out of pocket?

zabzonk 2y ago

> Most expensive Christmas tree ever Would have been even more expensive if the USA had UK laws- in the UK disturbing bats is an offence. Also, unless you really think you need it (just finding a bat is not enough), you don't want to take rabies vaccine. But IANAMD.

mynameishere 2y ago

I've walked through swarms of bats without a care in the world. You came within ten feet of a sleeping bat and put your family through a medical grinder. Different strokes.

nfinished 2y ago
Weird flex in the comments on an article about someone who interacted with a bat, didn't get treated, then died.

testfoobar 2y ago

I'm sorry for you and your family. This is a catastrophic thinker's literal nightmare.