Is this now a standard form they put before you whenever you have a blood test? If you don't sign it, does Quest refuse to do all blood tests ordered by your doctor?
Is this now a standard form they put before you whenever you have a blood test? If you don't sign it, does Quest refuse to do all blood tests ordered by your doctor?
My guess is yes. You no sign then no test. Going to need to find an alternative. I was wondering why my last labs were $250 when normally it’s $45-$50. Since I signed the waiver I really didn’t have a gripe. My own fault. Sigh. Any ideas of other labs with less predatory practices? Local I would guess. Might have this discussion with my pcp that I never see except for occasional need. But I get labs done twice a year from my naturopath who doesn’t take insurance and doesn’t have a lab on board anymore due to these same predatory practices. Maybe they will let me use their lab at the pcp.
Check you insurance plan to see if Quest is considered "in network". If not, take the doctor's order to lab that is in network. The doctor cannot force you to use an out of network lab. These labs all do the exact same thing, they are interchangeable.
As I mentioned above, in network providers are contractually obligated to only charge you the price negotiated with the insurance company.
They are in network which is why I questioned it because it didn’t make sense. Spent about 6 hours one day getting to the bottom of it, spoke to insurance, the doctors office, Quest, multiple times and although I now have a clear understanding of what happened, it is still not resolved. Waiting for the Quest rep for my doctors office to call. I did put in a complaint to BC/BS with their fraud department. Also have the paper work for state complaints for multiple departments. The longer Quest waits to handle this, the more pissed I will get, along with more complaints and warnings to others that will happen.
Your insurance should tell you what is covered and / or the reimbursement rate for the tests and what your owed amount is. I think they are using this form to skirt their contracted amounts and I was told I don’t have to sign when I told the doctors office I will refuse in the future. They have tried to balance bill me for a thyroid panel that they know they are contracted at a paid rate of $0. So that is what the insurance will pay by contract and I owe nothing. I questioned it, because I have NEVER had one of those tests NOT covered in 20+ years. I think it is not only unethical, but most likely illegal, and they are probably violating their contracts as well, or skirting around them.
Irunthis1, check WalkIn lab. No hidden costs and you can choose either Quest or LabCorp (and see how they do the test). Idk if you can use their prices to contest; guessing not. Always order panels if you’re having a bunch of tests; almost always much cheaper.
Just for fun, check your Quest cost against walkinlab.com Quest cost. I ordered 3 tests directly from LabCorp thinking that they couldn’t be more expensive with a middle man (walkinlab). Boy was I wrong! About $220 vs 475! 😡😡😡 Called LabCorp to ask (complain nicely), and they insisted that was the correct price and had not idea why WIL offered their own test, done in their own lab so much cheaper. It’s all a game…
I was told by the office administrator that they cannot refuse to do the tests the doctor orders because of the form. Your insurance will normally send you an EOB Explanation of Benefits that will tell you what you owe, above what they have covered.
So there is actually a purpose in doing that. When you bill Medicare as a provider, you know they will only cover X for a payout of $Y. So you have to bill at a higher rate than $Y, because if you bill $Y, they will pay less. It’s a very screwed up system.
Is this now a standard form they put before you whenever you have a blood test? If you don't sign it, does Quest refuse to do all blood tests ordered by your doctor?
My guess is yes. You no sign then no test. Going to need to find an alternative. I was wondering why my last labs were $250 when normally it’s $45-$50. Since I signed the waiver I really didn’t have a gripe. My own fault. Sigh. Any ideas of other labs with less predatory practices? Local I would guess. Might have this discussion with my pcp that I never see except for occasional need. But I get labs done twice a year from my naturopath who doesn’t take insurance and doesn’t have a lab on board anymore due to these same predatory practices. Maybe they will let me use their lab at the pcp.
Check you insurance plan to see if Quest is considered "in network". If not, take the doctor's order to lab that is in network. The doctor cannot force you to use an out of network lab. These labs all do the exact same thing, they are interchangeable.
As I mentioned above, in network providers are contractually obligated to only charge you the price negotiated with the insurance company.
and the beauty is they have a LOOONG two page list of what you are agreeing to with a simple box to tick that you agree...
They are in network which is why I questioned it because it didn’t make sense. Spent about 6 hours one day getting to the bottom of it, spoke to insurance, the doctors office, Quest, multiple times and although I now have a clear understanding of what happened, it is still not resolved. Waiting for the Quest rep for my doctors office to call. I did put in a complaint to BC/BS with their fraud department. Also have the paper work for state complaints for multiple departments. The longer Quest waits to handle this, the more pissed I will get, along with more complaints and warnings to others that will happen.
Your insurance should tell you what is covered and / or the reimbursement rate for the tests and what your owed amount is. I think they are using this form to skirt their contracted amounts and I was told I don’t have to sign when I told the doctors office I will refuse in the future. They have tried to balance bill me for a thyroid panel that they know they are contracted at a paid rate of $0. So that is what the insurance will pay by contract and I owe nothing. I questioned it, because I have NEVER had one of those tests NOT covered in 20+ years. I think it is not only unethical, but most likely illegal, and they are probably violating their contracts as well, or skirting around them.
Maybe a good idea to make a complaint with the state insurance board or AG.
Irunthis1, check WalkIn lab. No hidden costs and you can choose either Quest or LabCorp (and see how they do the test). Idk if you can use their prices to contest; guessing not. Always order panels if you’re having a bunch of tests; almost always much cheaper.
Funny, because the price they quoted on the form was slightly lower than the bill (less than a dollar), but they lied there too.
I never get my labs done at the hospital. I use Quest labs and pick which blood tests I need and pay the cheaper price.
Just for fun, check your Quest cost against walkinlab.com Quest cost. I ordered 3 tests directly from LabCorp thinking that they couldn’t be more expensive with a middle man (walkinlab). Boy was I wrong! About $220 vs 475! 😡😡😡 Called LabCorp to ask (complain nicely), and they insisted that was the correct price and had not idea why WIL offered their own test, done in their own lab so much cheaper. It’s all a game…
I was told by the office administrator that they cannot refuse to do the tests the doctor orders because of the form. Your insurance will normally send you an EOB Explanation of Benefits that will tell you what you owe, above what they have covered.
what I find odd is when I look at the EOB Explanation how much overcharge is done vs how much insurance approves and how much I am required to pay!!!
So there is actually a purpose in doing that. When you bill Medicare as a provider, you know they will only cover X for a payout of $Y. So you have to bill at a higher rate than $Y, because if you bill $Y, they will pay less. It’s a very screwed up system.
I use Labcorp for my thyroid test , question for everything else.
* Quest