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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