Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital review: Price Gouging and Lack of Pricing Transparency

I was treated for a raccoon bite from a local Florida restaurant on 5/31/2023 at Ascension Sacred Heart in Destin, Florida. I received a Tetanus shot, an Xray of my thumb, 1 Augmentin, and a Rabies vaccine, and immunoglobulin injection in my thumb. The entire treatment lasted less than 30 minutes. I was charged in excess of $16,000. The charge for 1 Augmentin was $42.30 and the charge for the ER visit itself was $3,175.00 These charges were in excess of normal prices for these procedure/diagnostic codes. The hospital has outsourced their billing to India and you CAN NOT speak to anyone at the hospital. I have been trying to get help for more than 6 months. Each time that I call and demand to speak to someone at the hospital, I am transferred to a number that says do not leave a message and that no messages will be returned. This hospital is guilty of price gauging and not providing pricing transparency at the time of service. For example, I didn't need a Tetanus vaccine and I could get an entire month of Augument for less than $4.00. I was charged $1,184 for a thumb X-Ray that I clearly didn't need. I was bitten on the base of the thumb nail. I would have demanded that they not do an X-Ray if they had shared the cost. Fortunately, I do have health insurance. However, had the cost been fair, my co-insurance would have been less. The cost of the rabies vaccine was $1,442.86 while it was $450 at the follow up clinic in Knoxville, TN where I received additional rabies vaccines.