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Message
Woman gets charged $17k for simple urine drug test by shady lab
Posted on 2/20/18 at 11:59 am
Posted on 2/20/18 at 11:59 am
LINK
I wish our medical system was a true free market.
quote:
In 2015, a college student in Texas named Elizabeth Moreno had back surgery to correct a painful spinal abnormality. The procedure was a success, and her surgeon followed it with just a short-term prescription for the opioid painkiller hydrocodone to ease a speedy recovery. Then came a “routine” urine drug test, ostensibly to ensure she didn’t abuse the powerful drug.
A year later, she got the bill for that test. It was $17,850.
She understandably didn’t see it coming, according to a report on her case in Kaiser Health News. The surgery was covered by her insurance and she had weaned herself off the painkiller with no problems. When the surgeon’s office asked for the urine test in mid-January 2016, “I didn’t think anything of it,” Moreno told KHN. “I said fine, whatever.”
quote:
This just blows my mind,” Jennifer Bolen, a former federal prosecutor and lab and pain management consultant told KHN. “It’s very high and incredibly out of the norm.”
The testing lab, Sunset Labs, was considered out of network for Moreno’s insurance. But that may be the least of the problem. Sunset also has an “F” rating from the Houston Better Business Bureau for charging thousands of dollars for tests that cost a few hundred dollars—tops. And Sunset Labs is part of a network of pain clinics owned by Houston anesthesiologist Phillip C. Phan, which is facing lawsuits and complaints related to forced, unnecessary testing and improper billing.
Moreno’s insurance company valued her $17,850 urine test at $100.92.
In an emailed statement to KHN, an attorney for Sunset said the lab’s billings “are in line with the charges of competing out-of-network labs in the geographical area.”
The bill’s breakdown shows Sunset charged Moreno $4,675 to screen for a variety of opioids, $2,975 for psychiatric benzodiazepine drugs, $1,700 for amphetamines, $1,275 for a host of illicit drugs, and $850 for buprenorphine, a drug to treat opioid addiction. Sunset added another $850 fee to verify that the urine hadn’t been adulterated, among other charges.
Such extensive testing—and exorbitant billing—has become more commonplace amid the national epidemic of opioid abuse and overdose deaths. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that an average of 115 Americans die each day from opioids.
I wish our medical system was a true free market.
Posted on 2/20/18 at 12:03 pm to NYNolaguy1
LOL you can go to Walgreens and buy a test kit for $35
Posted on 2/20/18 at 12:04 pm to NYNolaguy1
quote:
is part of a network of pain clinics owned by Houston anesthesiologist Phillip C. Phan
oh
i know what this is about
Posted on 2/20/18 at 12:08 pm to NYNolaguy1
This would be the norm under universal healthcare. The only difference is that no one would know about it.
Posted on 2/20/18 at 12:08 pm to SlowFlowPro
This sounds like a fraud case that will go way beyond lab tests. Maybe even worse than fraud.
Posted on 2/20/18 at 12:10 pm to upgrayedd
quote:
This would be the norm under universal healthcare.
People getting screwed by crazy healthcare prices is the norm here too unfortunately. Does that make universal healthcare better or worse than what happened here?
This post was edited on 2/20/18 at 12:11 pm
Posted on 2/20/18 at 12:12 pm to SlowFlowPro
quote:
i know what this is about
Go on...
Posted on 2/20/18 at 12:13 pm to boosiebadazz
due to my second life as a semi-professional poker player, i have been told by people who would know that there is a YUGE Vitnamese organized crime ring along the Gulf Coast centered around pain treatment centers. finding out they're over-billing insurance companies is the least shocking thing i'll hear this year, i reckon
Posted on 2/20/18 at 12:16 pm to NYNolaguy1
quote:
People getting screwed by crazy healthcare prices is the norm here too unfortunately. Does that make universal healthcare better or worse than what happened here?
At least there is some accountability in that the end user receives a bill and can catch such fraudulent charges. If these bills go directly to government accounting, the likelihood of it being caught in the infinite sea of medical accounting is slim.
Posted on 2/20/18 at 12:17 pm to SlowFlowPro
fricking immigrant criminals, I swear
Posted on 2/20/18 at 12:40 pm to NYNolaguy1
quote:This reeks of the same thing as MRI tests. One center here charged us 5K for 2 MRI tests but the insurance company negotiates it down to 400.
Moreno’s insurance company valued her $17,850 urine test at $100.92.
Posted on 2/20/18 at 1:42 pm to SlowFlowPro
Its not just illegal shady doctors involved in this. The money usually isn't quite this much, but your run of the mill internist can make 10 to 15,000 thousands of dollars a month ordering drug tests. Insurance companies actually pay quite a lot for these tests, and through an arrangement with the drug testing lab, the doctor can get a big cut of the fee.
Some large pain clinics and orthopedics will create their own labs, cutting out the middle man.
I have a friend who works for a major medical supply company who works for one of these companies on the side. He makes a ton of money off this as well.
Some large pain clinics and orthopedics will create their own labs, cutting out the middle man.
I have a friend who works for a major medical supply company who works for one of these companies on the side. He makes a ton of money off this as well.
This post was edited on 2/20/18 at 1:43 pm
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