--- title: SnakeBite Causes $89,000 Hospital Bill for North Carolina Couple description: The couple visited the emergency room in August to receive treatment. The sticker shock comes as Americans continue to battle high health care costs following the introduction of the American Care Act canonical: https://time.com/2897/north-carolina-hospital-bill-snake-bite/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-01-19T22:03:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:54:57.155Z article:section: Health og:title: SnakeBite Causes $89,000 Hospital Bill for North Carolina Couple og:description: The couple visited the emergency room in August to receive treatment. The sticker shock comes as Americans continue to battle high health care costs following the introduction of the American Care Act og:url: https://time.com/2897/north-carolina-hospital-bill-snake-bite/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: SnakeBite Causes $89,000 Hospital Bill for North Carolina Couple twitter:description: The couple visited the emergency room in August to receive treatment. The sticker shock comes as Americans continue to battle high health care costs following the introduction of the American Care Act twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Snake Bite Costs North Carolina Couple $89,000 Hospital Bill > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. 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Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jan 19, 2014 10:03 PM UTC by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jan 19, 2014 10:03 PM UTC A couple in [North Carolina](http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/01/27/4643457/mooresville-patient-stunned-by.html#.Uule4D46W6R) is speaking out against hospital pricing after receiving a bill for an 18-hour emergency-room stay which they say cost them a whopping $89,000\. The _Charlotte Observer_ [reports ](http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/01/27/4643457/mooresville-patient-stunned-by.html#.Uule4D46W6R)that Eric Ferguson visited a hospital near his home in Mooresville, N.C. over the summer after being bitten by a snake. The four vials of anti-venom medication Ferguson received reportedly cost about $20,000 each. Ferguson and his wife Laura researched the price of the medicine and found its retail price was between $750 and $12,000 per vial. Medicare, they reportedly found, would have paid about $9,460 for the total treatment Though their Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance reduced the bill to a little over $20,000, according to the _Charlotte Observer_, and they only ended up paying about $5,400 to cover their deductible and co-pay, the couple said they were shocked by the price of treatment. In a 2013 cover story by Steven Brill, [Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,2136864-1,00.html), TIME explored the often exorbitant prices patients face after hospital stays.The article examined the reasons behind the prices and the damage caused to those on the receiving end of the American health care system as a result The hospital, Lake Norman Regional, defended their pricing in a statement to the newspaper: “Hospitals only collect a small percentage of our charges, or ‘list prices.’ We are required to give Medicare one level of discount from list price, Medicaid another, and private insurers negotiate for still others. … If we did not start with the list prices we have, we would not end up with enough revenue to remain in operation. … Our costs for providing uncompensated care are partially covered by higher bills for other patients.” \[[Charlotte Observer](http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/01/27/4643457/mooresville-patient-stunned-by.html#.Uule4D46W6R)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2897/north-carolina-hospital-bill-snake-bite/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2897/north-carolina-hospital-bill-snake-bite/"},"headline":"Snake Bite Costs North Carolina Couple $89,000 Hospital Bill","datePublished":"2014-01-19T22:03:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:54:57.155Z","description":"The couple visited the emergency room in August to receive treatment. 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