Prior to my visit at Grace Clinic, I contacted my insurance and notified them of my pending visit. They confirmed that as long as my office visit and any lab work or other services were billed on the same bill, the insurance would pick it up.
When I arrived at Grace Clinic, I asked this question over and over "would everything be billed on the same visit and same bill". The response I received, at least three times from three different people, was 'yes'.
Since everything was done on the same day, on the same visit, on the same campus, and since I had received reassurance from everyone I asked, I assumed the bill would be taken care of by my insurance.
Two months later I received a bill for $260 from Grace Clinic for the blood work done on that visit.
When I contacted the clinic, they notified me that the nurse practitioner is not allowed to order blood work. The orders came from her Dr., so the exam and blood work were billed separately. They then stated that only one claim per doctor can be filed. So, according to her words, even if I had seen the Dr. For the visit and he had ordered the blood work, I would still end up footing the bill because only 'one claim per doctor'. I explained that no one had notified me of this prior to getting the lab work done (as I hadn't wanted to do it since blood had been drawn earlier that year), she said it was because most people didn't know about that claim rule.
So now, here I am stuck with a $260 bill because they put qualifications on my visit and refuse to bill the exam and blood work on the same ticket.
For all of you that have insurance out there, make sure to get everything IN WRITING!!! I will no longer go to the dr's office to get anything done other than an exam. You don't have health insurance, you get screwed over - you have health insurance, you get screwed over. Doesn't make a difference, you still end up paying out of your pocket.
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