Woman faces $20K hospital bills after bat flies into her mouth in freak accident
What happened to Erica Kahn?
Narrating her ordeal to KFF Health News, Erica stated that the bizarre incident took place in August last year while she was doing photography in Arizona.
At first, she witnessed the bat as it was caught between her head and the camera. She got scared and started screaming. It was at this moment that the bat partially ended up in her mouth.
While the incident lasted only a few seconds, Erica's father, who is a doctor, advised her to consider a series of rabies vaccinations. However, she thought that the bat did not bite her during the encounter.
Erica told the news outlet that she was recently laid off from her biomedical engineering position. A day after the incident, she went on to buy a health insurance policy online to help out in covering the treatment cost.
However, she was surprised to learn that the insurance company denied payments for her treatment, which she sought at multiple facilities in Arizona, Massachusetts, and Colorado. The company cited '30-day waiting period' as its reason for the same.
Also read: New COVID variant bizarre symptoms: What treatments are available and how you can protect yourself
'The required waiting period for this service has not been met,' the company allegedly told her, according to KFF Health News. For her treatment, she visited a total of four centers, while her total bills reached nearly $20,749. Erica said that she first thought that the company's denial 'must have been a mistake.' But she later realized that she was being 'naive.'
Therafter, she went on to join another company and was later able to negotiate one of the bills, besides setting the payment plan for another one. As per KFF, she continues to appeal for her rejected payments to cover the remaining amount of her debt. Also, it was stated that she previously had a coverage plan, but it lapsed after she lost her job.
FAQs:
1. What happened with Erica Kahn?
She was on a vacation in Arizona when a bat entered her mouth.
2. When did the incident take place?
It happened in August last year.
3. What was the cost of her treatment?
Erica's total bills reached nearly $20,749.
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