Bat Flies Into Woman's Mouth In Arizona, Costing Her Nearly $21,000 In Medical Bills

A Massachusetts female was bitten by astir $21,000 successful aesculapian bills aft a bat flew into her rima during a freak incident suffered while vacationing successful Northern Arizona, nan unlucky traveler said Friday.

Erica Kahn, now 33, had precocious mislaid her occupation arsenic a biomedical technologist erstwhile she traveled to nan Glen Canyon National Recreation Area successful August past year, she told NBC News.

Kahn, whose scary woman-vs.-animal communicative was first reported Thursday by Kaiser Family Foundation News, was snapping pictures of nan nighttime entity erstwhile a bat approached and sewage caught successful betwixt her camera and face.

Then a portion of nan bat sewage into her mouth.

"It was benignant of acheronian retired and we were retired connected a cliff truthful I was looking down and astatine my camera, I didn't really spot it coming," she said Friday.

"When it sewage benignant of tangled betwixt my look and nan camera, it was astir apt conscionable for illustration a fewer seconds. But it felt for illustration a batch longer because it was specified a crazy thing."

At nan urging of her recreation partner and father, a doctor, nan symptom-less Kahn sought attraction for rabies — but only aft jumping online to bargain caller aesculapian insurance.

After Kahn mislaid her occupation arsenic a biomedical technologist past summer, she declined to salary for her erstwhile employer’s security for $650 a period done COBRA, nan federal continuation of wellness sum law.

The unemployed Massachusetts female figured she could rotation nan dice arsenic a patient female successful her early 30s aliases astatine worst, could hastily bargain backstage wellness security successful a pinch, Kahn said.

Kahn went online, bought a argumentation and past went connected to get rabies vaccinations and curen successful Arizona, Colorado and Massachusetts, believing she was successful nan clear.

The Mexican free-tailed bat, aliases Brazilian free-tailed bat, is simply a bat communal to Arizona and known to reside successful Glen Canyon Recreation Area.Poetra RH / Getty Images

Then nan aesculapian bills started pouring in, asking for a full of $20,749, because her argumentation had a 30-day waiting play earlier she could person treatments covered by nan plan, she said.

"I felt truthful powerless against these companies," she said. "It should beryllium a quality correct to person lifesaving attraction covered. In astir different countries, for illustration successful Europe, you conscionable spell to nan hospital, you get your rabies vaccines and you salary nothing."

Sabrina Corlette, co-director of nan Center connected Health Insurance Reforms astatine Georgetown University, said astir plans footwear successful connected nan first of nan period aft enrollment. It's mostly not instantaneous.

“The security companies — for bully logic — don’t want group to hold to motion up for sum until they are sick,” Corlette told KFF.

While Kahn is now employed again and has wellness insurance, she's still burdened by these monolithic bills.

And pinch 20/20 hindsight, Kahn said she should person secured backstage wellness security arsenic soon arsenic she was laid off.

"I should person done COBRA, moreover though it was very costly to do Cobra," Kahn said. "But yeah, hindsight is 20/20."

The near-$21,000 load will astir apt lead to less vacations and a hold successful having cardinal aerial information installed astatine her place, Kahn said.

The now-employed bat unfortunate said she hopes others tin study from her misstep.

"It was my fault. I took nan consequence of not doing COBRA and that's everlastingly connected me," she said. "But if 1 personification gets covered because they saw this story, past I would beryllium happy astir that."