I got bit by a stray cat the other day. I went to go get a rabies shot just to be safe because I started feeling sick, scratching around the wound. Not good.
couldn’t get a appointment with my primary in time ( the vaccine is only effective for 72 hours after exposure)
And a clinic couldn’t help me because they don’t have the shot.
So, I reluctantly went to the ER. I know, there’s a extremely strong likelihood that it wasn’t rabies and I was just making this up in my head, but I had no interest in being a statistic.
So, I got the shot. I’m a veteran so I’m used to shots but this one hit different. They jabbed the fuck out of the area around the wound then my shoulders
Anyway, 2 weeks later and the bill comes in. 27K. Good news! I got insurance. Bad news is even then. I have to pay 4K. That’s half of my entire savings.
I’ve always held these opinions but this just solidifies them for me. The American healthcare system is completely unjustifiable.
What if I didn’t have insurance? Then I would choose between being broke for the rest of my life or dying?
(Which face it, most people would rather die than go to the ER if something similar happened to them.) I’m a pansy.
Most Americans don’t even have savings. Im tremendously lucky and this will take away half my savings.
Before this I’ve always held some kind of patriotism to this country, even though I held many views condemning it. That’s gone now. I’m trying to get out of this shithole before it gets even worse. I just think It’s unimaginably cruel.
For the record, in hindsight I don’t think I had rabies. But at the time the panic was very real.
I’ll do a payment plan, I still got to pay this though. Sorry for the rant, or if it is not appropriate for this sub. Just tell me if I need to remove.
Yeah, fuck this.