I got a similar pre-exposure immunization to that which Allan refers from a Houston travel medicine service prior to a trip to Belize in 2001. It was added to a standard tropical infectious diseases package after I mentioned that I would be caving. The price for the co-pay on the whole lot wasn't prohibitive or I would have gone without.
As it turned out, Belize didn't kill me, but London nearly did. :-( Roger G. Moore -----Original Message----- From: Edward Gelsone <[email protected]> To: 'Lyndon Tiu' <[email protected]>; 'Allan B. Cobb' <[email protected]>; 'Cavers Texas' <[email protected]> Cc: Steve Gutting <[email protected]> Sent: Mon, Feb 20, 2012 1:42 pm Subject: RE: [Texascavers] Cost of Rabies Shots I personally believe the variance is due to the manner in which almost all medical bills are charged. When I was self-insured in the 90’s I always discussed the price up front. The doctors gave me a cash price for all services and the prices were fair. Always much less than the insurance prices as billed. Since that time I have always checked out what my insurance carrier was billed vs what they actually paid the treatment center, HUGE differences. As an example a bit over a year ago, I was prescribed a common CPAP machine. Humana was being billed $1,500.00 per month. My portion was about $190.00 per month. The sleep center billed this monthly. I was racking up $190.00 per month and Humana was paying nothing. I found the same exact machine on-line and it was actually very inexpensive. I called the sleep center and offered them what they would cost retail (a bit overpriced that way) and they took the cash deal and I was paid up immediately. So, book price $1500 per month (apparently forever) Insurance paid ZERO I paid about $800.00 and settled the deal. Same thing for all services. The Doctor bills a ton and accepts about a ten percent payment from the insurance company. I have never found one that would not accept the same from you on a cash basis. So rabies shot prices are most likely driven by the need for the insurance companies and the Feds to make us think medical bills must be huge. Therefore justifying both the need for insurance to cost so much and the Feds to take over the industry. ala OBAMACARE Ed From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Lyndon Tiu Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 1:24 PM To: Allan B. Cobb; Cavers Texas Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Cost of Rabies Shots Then why the huge price discepancy? Someone got fleeced? -- Lyndon Tiu On Feb 20, 2012 12:56 PM, "Allan B. Cobb" <[email protected]> wrote: You can get pre-exposure shots which requires 3 shots at 0, 7, and 21/28 days at the Austin Regional Clinic Travel Medicine office for $360 per shot (or $270 with a cash discount). Post exposure, from what I understand is 4 shots of the same vaccine. http://www.austinregionalclinic.com/Services/travel_medicine_services/pricing.asp Allan From: Ron R Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 12:47 PM To: Preston Forsythe Cc: [email protected] ; R D Milhollin ; Jim Kennedy Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Cost of Rabies Shots I'm sure there are vastly different prices for the Rabies vaccination (pre-exposure) vs. the emergency Rabies shot series (post-exposure). On Mon, Feb 20, 2012 at 12:43 PM, Preston Forsythe <[email protected]> wrote: Thanks RD for checking as I was hoping the Miami price was inflated. I did double check the Miami Audubon article and it cost the author $27,000.00. I would certainly hope the vaccine would be cheaper in TX and KY. I was wondering if it would even be available in KY? When Crash gets time maybe he can enlighten us on the costs, procedures and availability. I bet Crash has had the vaccines. Wonder how long the shots are good for? There have been several times in my caving days when I was surrounded by bats, swimming in thick guano covered water, not to mention walking, wading and crawling in deep guano. Guano Go Caving, Preston ============================================= ----- Original Message ----- From: R D Milhollin To: Preston Forsythe ; [email protected] Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 11:55 AM Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Cost of Rabies Shots Preston, that cost figure seemed a little out-of-range, so I took 4 minutes to look around for other information to confirm or refute the article's claim. This is from the North Dakota public health website: http://www.ndhealth.gov/disease/Rabies/QandA.htm "How much does rabies vaccine cost? Rabies vaccine and immunoglobulin is very expensive. A typical vaccination series with the rabies immunoglobulin can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $7,000+ per person." and from a North Carolina new program: http://www2.nbc17.com/news/2011/jun/30/rabies-shots-are-expensive-hard-find-and-time-cons-ar-1169155/ "If you think the long wait and multiple visits are tough to handle, the hospital bills are worse. Hutton said the first treatment resulted in a bill of $10,289. But why so much? The cost of the ER facility is only 7 percent of the bill, but then you need a vial of immunoglobulin. That's where the big money factors in. Depending on its weight, a vial of immunoglobulin can cost upwards of$1,500. According to Rex Hospital Emergency Room supervisor Sherry Witt, immunoglobulin is like liquid gold. According to Rex, in Hutton's $10,000 bill, that one shot was 80 percent of the bill -more than $8,000 for that one shot." So my unscientific, cursory survey of the information on the internet seems to show that while very expensive, the figure quoted by the Miami Audubon seems somewhat inflated, by a factor ranging from 2 to 4 times. What would be more informative for us would be what Texas health providers charge for the treatment. From: Preston Forsythe <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 10:23 AM Subject: [Texascavers] Cost of Rabies Shots According to an article in the Miami Tropical Audubon Society newsletter, Spring 2011, five rabies shots cost---$27,000. The author one evening picked up a "little fluttering thing," a bat, which bit her repeatedly between the thumb and forefinger. After 3 days she "yielded to reason (and fear)" and went to the doctor. Regular doctors do not stock rabies vaccine so she had to go to the Emergency Room. She received Five shots in the upper arm, painless, and a bill for $27,000. But, that prevented the possible rabies virus from migrating to the brain, where it is always fatal. The bat was a Brazilian Free-Tailed bat and it lived for 3 days, hence the shots. The author says if you must handle bats wear heavy gloves. By the way the Tropical Audubon Society headquarters in sw Miami at Coral Gables is a great place to visit. Lots of birding in that very tropical and jungle like area. Cavingly, Preston in KY --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] -- Ron Rutherford
