Doctor sent urine to lab, Cigna billing me $974.70Doctor sent urine to lab, Cigna billing me $974.70
Author: aliasam1337
Posted: 01/21 01:33 PM
My Suboxone doctor made me take a drug test which I complied to seeing as I've done it many times for other sub doctors and did it once for him when I used to go to his office the year before. I've never had to pay a dime, and the last time I peed for said doctor he didnt send it to a lab. The doctor NEVER told me that I would be getting billed for the urinalyisis and never told me that the insurance I use for his visits (Cigna) does not cover Millenium Labs Urine Screens. If I was even told that I'd have to pay for it from the beginning I probably would of either checked the lab on our coverage list or just left. I signed a consent form and that was it, I peed and he sealed it and put the stamp on. No exppanation at all about anything. Now I'm being billed almost a thousand dollars for "lab work". What can I do right now?
Author: 12step2-24
Posted: 01/22 11:33 AM
Have you called the lab? Did they send you an itemized bill with what testing they did? My guess is that it is probably a typo and it is more like $97 rather than almost a grand. I have had to pay for pee tests before cause I don't have insurance and its was an drug and alcohol screen and it was like $96. Plus I have had blood work done recently and it wasn't even a fraction of the amount they are trying to bill you. Best thing is to get all the information that you can and let us know what the deal is and we can try to help you from there.
Best of luck.
reply from slipper
Author: slipper
Posted: 01/22 11:53 AM
| 12step2-24 wrote: |
Have you called the lab? Did they send you an itemized bill with what testing they did? My guess is that it is probably a typo and it is more like $97 rather than almost a grand. I have had to pay for pee tests before cause I don't have insurance and its was an drug and alcohol screen and it was like $96. Plus I have had blood work done recently and it wasn't even a fraction of the amount they are trying to bill you. Best thing is to get all the information that you can and let us know what the deal is and we can try to help you from there.
Best of luck. |
My God that is outrageous!! Here in Texas a urine screen is about 40.00. I too would definately get an itemized list.
This just cannot be right!
Judy and good luck to you!
Author: jonathanm1978
Posted: 01/22 01:00 PM
I wouldn't go and call this a typo without knowing, it's VERY possible the charges are accurate...
The charges I incur for my urinalysis are right around $400...
My doctor doesn't just do a drug screen though.
Here's likely what they did to you -- they tested your urine to make sure the suboxone is being filtered out properly by your liver. Most all Doctors will do this at some point during your visits to them, usually 2-3 times a year. They have to make sure you're filtering out the stuff properly, and to be quite honest, there is a drug test they can do that tells them the amount of suboxone in your system at the time of testing, so they can tell if you're taking the amount you're prescribed or not. Almost down to the exact dose, just by doing the UA test.
I recently got a bill from the company that does it, $496 but that was before insurance...after BCBS paid, I owed them nothing. But this is probably some lab that doesn't consider itself an "in-network" provider..there are labs coming along that don't accept the "reasonable and customary charges" and they want to get a boatload of money from their doctors that use them....so they are "out-of-network."
Author: Fireman
Posted: 01/22 06:56 PM
Wow, sorry to hear that if it ends up being true. Hopefully, it was some sort of error that was made by the doctor or your insurance will cover it. The test Jonathan described sounds more likely rather than just drug screens for the given balance due. Some urine tests, like a DNA test for example, are very expensive. In the scenario in which you are being tested for the one Jonathan described, other than just a drug screen, sounds more likely otherwise it would just be absurd to pay that amount of money unless the doctor is a part of some sort of scam.
I usually receive a drug screen once a month or so and I go to a lab close by. The last time I was tested, the test was done in the doctor’s office. I never saw them put a drug panel in it or anything; I was just asked to leave. They never charged me for it either, so I assumed that they either forgot, my insurance covered it, or it’s a part of the visit fee. Surely I hope that an error has occurred in your case and I hope that I don't get any similar bill.
It is just ridiculous that you were never made aware of any fee that you listed, so you could probably use that in your advantage. Good luck.
Author: stephent
Posted: 01/28 03:54 PM
Urine screening companies make a killing off of us. Plain and simple. I was randomly screened for a year (by choice) and it was pretty costly.
My doctor uses a drug testing company that ONLY charges what the insurance is willing to pay. So, that tells me that it is more the enough for a company to make a profit with what the insurance pays. Places like Labcorp are just charging us because they know they can get away with it.
Frickin Insurance and Medical Companies in cahoots. Always, Always, Always request itemized billing whenever you can and review it. You get charged for services you do not need quite often. Its the worst when you are in a state with only one or two insurance companies. This is supposed to be addressed in a few years.
Sorry for the rant, a few years (pre HCR bill) I had to drop down to a PPO and pay more for it because insurance was becoming to costly for my non-profit. I'd think BCBS makes enough, but they always got make that extra billion or two. Thankfully they cannot use addiction as a pre-existing condition anymore.... From suboxforum.com