Complaint / Review
SKO Brenner
GeneCare Medical Genetics Center Bankrupt medical diagnostics company GeneCare sells fraudulent "debt" to SKO Brenner collections agency

I received a letter from SKO Brenner stating that I owed $90 for a "Pregnancy Diagnostic Test" performed nearly three years ago to a company called GENECARE. I worked with my insurance company to determine that no such claim was ever submitted to them by GeneCare. Also, I had never been billed directly. This was the first I had heard of the issue.

I called SKO Brenner and asked for contact information for GeneCare. The associate refused to provide any information, stating that they didn't have contact information. She pressured for immediate payment. I told her I disputed the charge and would be investigating. She said that the claim could only be "held up" for one to two days, at most.

I called my doctor's office and found that multiple women had gotten such letters and the medical center was gathering information. (This is in a town of under 250,000.) They felt the claims were likely a fraud but office personnel needed to look into it and call me back.

Then I did a few minutes of additional digging, and it got much more interesting. GeneCare, the entity named in the collections letter, no longer exists. As stated in the following URL, "Alere Genetics,
Inc. (formerly known as GeneCare Medical Genetics Center) closed in March." www.alere.com/EN_US/products-and-services/alere-health-management/women-and-childrens-health/index. Jsp

I called the number listed on that web page, (770) 767-4500, and was referred to a representative in accounts receivable. The representative admitted that Alere erred and that I should not have been referred to SKO Brenner. They also admitted that multiple people had been erroneously referred to SKO Brenner. When I asked if I could have a written statement to that effect, they kindly provided an email stating that they were removing my account from collections (I guess SKO and Alere are in contact with each other after all?!) and I was not responsible for the charge.

I have found several reports online of other women who have received similar notices. Do not pay the collections agency. It's likely that in the aftermath of GeneCare ceasing operations, someone at Alere thought it would be a good idea to sell off "old debt" that wasn't actually valid debt at all to SKO Brenner. I am hopping mad that women are being subjected to this extortion and will be contacting the attorney general's office in my state.