I was experiencing hair loss, so I went to the dermatologist to see if I had alopecia. She ordered blood tests do be done. I just started a new job and was in the probationary period, so I did not have health insurance. I would have waited, but she told me if it's an auto immune disease, I need to get the tests done asap to ensure my symptoms don't get worse.
Doc told me that for these blood tests, it's usually $300 total for uninsured patients. Today, I received an invoice for $3,314.55 and I'm in total panic. There's no way I can afford this, even with a payment plan, and I wouldn't have done the tests right away had I known it would be this high. The invoice has an itemized list of everything that was done with my blood sample. It especially sucks because I tested negative for everything, so the labs were basically completely unnecessary.
Can this be negotiated down? I don't know what to do. It's LabCorp and I'm in NYC if that matters. Thanks for your help.
doc told me lab tests would be $300. today, i received an invoice that is over $3000.
byu/slowlikehoneyyyyy inpersonalfinance
Posted by slowlikehoneyyyyy
9 Comments
You should have asked the lab how much the test would cost, not your doctor. Doctors have no clue about health care costs.
>Can this be negotiated down?
It’s always worth trying.
You are uninsured? How would you expect to pay for treatments?
Was this so urgent that you couldn’t have waited until the probationary period was over?
> It especially sucks because I tested negative for everything, so the labs were basically completely unnecessary.
The tests were necessary. Without tests, you can’t know if you are negative.
Funny enough, when you are uninsured sometimes it’s cheaper. When I needed my gallbladder checked it was $1200 through insurance and only $300 of I signed paperwork promising insurance would not be used.
Call Labcorps and first have them verify that the bill is correct, then ask for help to lower the bill, then ask to be put on a payment plan. Most healthcare organizations will not report you to a credit reporting agency as long as you are making payments on a plan (ask for something you can afford like $25 a month)
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Go to the doc too and see if they have a deal with LabCorp. Insurance sometimes pays 20 times less than the billed amount so they have a lot to play with.
Definitely call and talk to a human about the bill. Medical billing errors happen more frequently than you’d think — a few months ago I got a bill for $4000 that I wasn’t expecting, and it turned out that they’d routed it to the wrong state’s insurer. Errors happen, and being uninsured can often get you a deal because you are outside of the insurance game.
If you have to negotiate, there are lots of resources on how to do that here and on the internet. You’ll be okay!
Call and say you were told $300. They may have charged what they charge insurance companies.
I know I just had a battery of test done. I paid out-of-pocket. I went straight to quest diagnostics and it was around $300. You may have gotten dinged because you went through your health provider. They probably should have written out what tests you needed and then you could go get them done and bring the results back.