I wanted to alert anyone who uses Quest Diagnostics Labs to be VERY clear on what their co-payments might be. My bank account would be $313 lighter IF I had not dug deeper to uncover my true charges.
My insurer, Aetna, has contacted with Quest to accept an agreed upon amount for specific tests. However, I received billing for $313, much more than my co-payment of $16.
After several phone calls between Quest and Aetna, an alert Aetna employee identified the charges as "Balancing Billing" - a ploy Quest uses to attempt to get extra payment for their services.
An example being a submitted charge of $139.25 for cholesterol blood work - BUT Quest has contactually agreed to accept $12.64 from Aetna, along with $4.21 as my share... BUT Quest sent me a bill for the remaining difference of $122.40... Which is classified as "Balance Billing." This is ILLEGAL and they have been sued for this in the past, most recently in Florida.
I shudder to think of how many unsuspecting folks have ended up paying them for services that should NOT be charged for in light of Quest's supposed agreement with health insurers. It took me over 2 hours being transferred from place to place but thank goodness, I was saved from being extorted $313.
My initial calls to Quest left me totally frustrated, but after I finally connected with a Quest employee with a clue (Monique) she finally recognized that the proper discounts had not been entered into my file. Four prior calls to Quest, did NOT meet with ANY resolution other than "Sorry but that is what you owe."
Don't accept one person's word for it - keep calling till you are 100 percent sure you are being told the correct info.
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