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My wife had contact with a raccoon which tangled with our dog in the middle of the day about a decade ago. Since confirmation from the state lab takes weeks, she was off to the hospital for rabies shots straight away as a precaution. Total cost to us - pretty much nothing minus some trivial co-pays (< $100). True to the US health care system, today, a decade later, we would likely pay a few thousand dollars or more - if it was covered. If incidental contact (no bite) was not covered, then it would be on my wife to either take the chance that the risk of rabies was insignificant or go ahead and pay thousands for the shots just in case. About 5 years ago, I was bit by a stray cat we'd been feeding. I am a bit cheap, so going to the doctor is the last thing on my mind unless I'm gushing blood. I did give thought to the risk of rabies, so I did a little research. Seems you can be successfully treated for rabies within 10 days of exposure - depending a bit on the location of the bite (head/neck vs leg) - mine was on my hand. Cats typically die within a week after they become contagious and show clear signs several days prior to that. Lucky me, this cat continued to show up at our door for food every day through the week with no obvious behavioral changes. So, having rolled the dice on my life for a few thousand dollars, I figured I was fine. Mate, I wish, cheapskate that I am, that I was never faced with a moment where I pondered the economic worth of my life. I live in the US and my fellow citizens (from what I'm told) do not want the same kind of health care system that the rest of the prosperous nations enjoy. Makes perfect sense, doesn't it? I wish I could find logic in it, but I can't. |