A Massachusetts woman is facing over $20,000 in medical bills after an unusual encounter with a bat during a vacation turned into a health scare.
Erica Kahn, 33, shared with KFF Health News that the incident happened last August while she was in Arizona, taking photos of the sky. Out of nowhere, a bat became trapped between her head and her camera — and when she screamed, it partially ended up in her mouth.
Although she didn’t believe she was bitten, her father, who is a doctor, advised her to begin a rabies vaccination series as a precaution.
At the time, Kahn had recently been laid off from her job in biomedical engineering. The day after the bat incident, she purchased a health insurance policy online in hopes of covering the cost of the vaccines, which she received in Arizona, Massachusetts, and Colorado.
However, the insurance company denied her claims, citing a 30-day waiting period on the policy, according to KFF Health News.
“The required waiting period for this service has not been met,” the company stated in a letter sent to Kahn, per the outlet.
Her medical bills added up to $20,749 from four different treatment centers.
“I thought it must have been a mistake,” she told the outlet. “I guess I was naive.”
Since then, Kahn has secured new employment, managed to negotiate one of the bills down, and arranged a payment plan for another. She continues to appeal the denied insurance claims in hopes of reducing the remaining debt.
She also expressed regret about letting her health coverage lapse after losing her job.
“That’s a very big lesson I learned the hard way,” she said.
Still, Kahn tries to maintain a sense of humor about the ordeal.
“I know what bats taste like now. It’s an earthy, sweet kind of flavor,” she joked to KFF. “It’s actually a pretty funny story — if it weren’t for the horrible medical bill that came with it.”
