She was encouraged to take a rabies shot after an encounter with a bat. Now a Charlottesville woman faces a $30K bill.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Hat tip, the Virginia Mercury

Charlottesville woman’s $30K rabies shot bill and more Virginia headlines
BY: STAFF REPORT - APRIL 4, 2024

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ALERT TOP STORY
HEALTH CARE

She was encouraged to take a rabies shot after an encounter with a bat. Now a Charlottesville woman faces a $30K bill.
'I'm feeling like this is really worrisome. I kept thinking this bankrupts a family.'

Hawes Spencer Apr 3, 2024

After a concerning encounter with a bat in her house last summer, a Charlottesville woman is trying to get answers about why the rabies shots recommended for her cost more than $30,000.

Jocelyn Diaz says she’s been getting increasingly stern letters from Martha Jefferson Hospital’s parent company, Sentara Health, telling her to pay her portion.

“I got this invoice and called Sentara and said, ‘I’m sure you made a mistake,’” Diaz told The Daily Progress. “There’s no way this could be this extraordinary amount.”

It’s not the first time Sentara has been accused of overcharging patients. Five years ago, Charlottesville residents learned the company had been charging them the highest health insurance rates in the country. Since then, the Department of Justice has been poring over the company’s financial records, reporting late last year that a Sentara subsidiary known as Optima Health may have unfairly pocketed $665 million by exploiting the monopoly Sentara held in Virginia for two years.

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[XanaDUer2]

1. Christ nt

[CurtEastPoint]

2. GD bloodsucking leeches providing health 'care'. What a scam

[Jerry2144]

3. Another grain of sand on the beach of reasons why

We need non-profit, single-payer, government-run health care in this country. Get all of the greedy corporates out of dealing directly with people in need

[OldBaldy1701E]

7. What is especially insulting is that once such an option is created, these leeches will cave.

They will stop overcharging and be forced to compete with the other option. Which, of course, makes one realize that they are, in fact, overcharging by WAY too much, that they have been all along, and they have been operating in the 'dark' to make sure we never figured it out. Once they realize the gravy train is over, they will suddenly find the wherewithal to reduce their blood sucking just to survive. And, it will be glorious.

[magicarpet]

4. Robbers seeking to become barrons, while masquarading as medical practioners.

[70sEraVet]

5. The poor woman was safer with the bat!

[magicarpet]

6. A Honey Badger or a Tazmanian Devil would not have ransacked her wallet as badly as the hospital did.

[democratsruletheday]

8. she should lawyer up...

there should be a young, aspiring lawyer who will take her case in a pro Bono fashion. Fuck those leeches.