PSA re: lab work at hospital facilities

Maybe I'm just an idiot for not knowing this but just in case, I wanted to share with you. I realize this is all nominal amounts but it is still annoying to me.

My insurance wants all my lab work done through LabCorp. My doctor referred me to Good Sam outpatient labs telling me that they accept my insurance and have great hours for working people. I called my insurance - yep, it's an accepted provider. Excellent. I go to Good Sam outpatient labs - they verified they accept my insurance. Wonderful.

Now I get a bill from Good Sam for a co-pay for drawing the blood and a bill for my $20 co-pay to Genzyme who did the actual analysis on the blood.

I called my insurance. Even though I went to Good Sam OUTPATIENT, it's hospital owned, so it's the same co-pay as an inpatient hospital visit. Had I gone to LabCorp, it would have been $20 for the whole thing, instead of the $60 I'm now on the hook for. Also, Good Sam took it's sweet azz time sending me the bill so of course I had ALL of my blood work done there now (pre-natal, 12 week, 16 week) so now I have $120 worth of charges I wouldn't have had if I had just known. Obviously, this is my own fault...I never asked nor did I put two and two together. I just assumed that outpatient meant outpatient and would not be billed like an inpatient.

Anyway, if you are going to a hospital-owned facility, be aware of that.

Re: PSA re: lab work at hospital facilities

so frustrating! i always have issues like this

Re: PSA re: lab work at hospital facilities

Yup. It's annoying.

With DD, Good Sam took my insurance, but their lab services didnt...so I had a bigger bill for my pre-admission blood work.

Then, even though my Doctor and the hospital are in network, the Anesthesiologist was OUT of network...that was a nice GIGANTIC bill afterwards. Thankfully they took a smaller amount as payment, but I was MAD. I was arguing with the insurance company saying, I'm going to have a baby, the guy is standing behind me, about to put a needle in my back. What am I supposed to do, stop him and say "Wait, are you an in-network provider?"

I've since found most anesthesilogists are NOT particpants in insurance plans, but many will accept what the insurance pays them as payment in full, or they will work out a significantly smaller payment with you.