Woman hit with five-figure medical bill after a wild bat flew into her mouth on vacation
A woman’s vacation to Arizona took a bizarre and costly turn after a bat flew into her mouth—leaving her with a $20,000 medical bill and no active health insurance to cover it.
Erica Kahn, 33, was visiting Glen Canyon National Recreation Area last August when the incident occurred. The former biomedical engineer had recently been laid off and her employer-sponsored insurance had lapsed. While photographing the night sky, Kahn noticed bats flying nearby but didn’t think much of it—until one got a little too close.
The bat became wedged between her face and camera. In a moment of panic, she screamed—unknowingly catching part of the bat in her mouth for a few unsettling seconds.
Although she wasn’t sure if she’d been bitten, her father, a physician who was traveling with her, urged her to begin rabies treatment immediately. Rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms appear, so swift treatment is critical.
Before heading to a hospital in Flagstaff, Kahn scrambled to buy a health insurance plan online, believing it would cover her upcoming treatments. She received the full rabies protocol—four vaccine doses and three immunoglobulin shots—at clinics in Arizona, Massachusetts, and Colorado.
But weeks later, the real shock came: a bill totaling $20,749. Unbeknownst to Kahn, the insurance plan she purchased had a 30-day waiting period before benefits would begin—leaving her responsible for the full amount.
“I thought it must have been a mistake,” she told KFF Health News. “I guess I was naive.”
After losing her job the previous month, Kahn had chosen not to continue coverage through COBRA, which would have cost her $650 a month. She gambled on staying healthy—and lost.
Now employed and insured once again, Kahn has managed to negotiate some of the charges down, but still owes more than $19,000. She continues to appeal the charges.
Despite the ordeal, Kahn maintains her love of the outdoors. “I know what bats taste like now. It’s an earthy, sweet kind of flavor,” she joked. “It’s actually a pretty funny story—if it weren’t for the horrible medical bill that came with it.”
According to the CDC, about 4,000 cases of rabies in animals are reported each year in the U.S., with bats responsible for the largest share—around 33%. Human deaths are rare, with fewer than 10 annually, but exposure can require urgent and expensive care.
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