Aa
lab costs
Does anyone have any idea what the usual lab tests cost when you don't have insurance. I lost my job today. I get cbc with diff, pt ,ptt, thyroid and LFT every month. Tomorrow having the viral load also. I think they charge insurance more than if you are private pay but I am not sure. Anyone have a clue? Luckily I have 3 months worth of meds.
I had read where the gov was going to assist with a portion of cobra. I just found this short article
http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2009/04/13/daily18.html
Rose
http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2009/04/13/daily18.html
Rose
Why is your cobra so expensive? Ours is $300 for two of us. Before Obama change the guidelines it would have been $1000.
Thanks for the info. I think I will go with paying Cobra to keep the insurance It is going to be 475.00 a month but I guess that is better than out of pocket. The problem is that when you change jobs if the insurance at the new job is not the same exact insurance then your disease is considered to be pre-existing and it will not be covered so anyway I'll figure it all out. Got some time on my hands right now.
I am so sorry about your job loss. For something to happen like this while doing tx is awful. You will be okay and figure something out.
I had a PCR done a few months ago. Quest labs and it was $450 out of my pocket. No insurance at that time. I don't know about the other test you need.
I had a PCR done a few months ago. Quest labs and it was $450 out of my pocket. No insurance at that time. I don't know about the other test you need.
Insurance Companies pay Health care Providers far less for their services, than what Providers ask for.
Probably a lot less than what we, as individuals, would pay, if we had to pay out of pocket, without ins company discounts. As far as I know, now Blue Cross only uses Quest for all blood work and thus negotiated very very reasonable costs imo.
Here is my insurance summary from Blue Cross of negotiated costs with Quest diagnostics.
If I was the supervisor of the Blue Cross representative that negotiated these rates for Blue Cross, I would get them a raise and bonus.
Description of Service: HEPATITIS C, RNA, QUANT, HEPTIMAX <5 IU/mL
Physician: Quest Diagnostics Inc
Amount Charged Amount Allowed Amount Paid Coinsurance Copay
$442.00 $33.52 $33.52 $0.00 $0.00
Description of Service: ASSAY THYROID STIM HORMONE
Physician: Quest Diagnostics Inc
Date(s) of Service:
Amount Charged Amount Allowed Amount Paid Coinsurance Copay
$108.10 $13.14 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Remarks:
* FRAGMENTED/UNBUNDLED CHARGES
Description of Service: ASSAY OF BLOOD/URIC ACID
Physician: Quest Diagnostics Inc
Date(s) of Service:
Amount Charged Amount Allowed Amount Paid Coinsurance Copay
$33.70 $3.53 $3.53 $0.00 $0.00
Description of Service: GENERAL HEALTH PANEL
Physician: Quest Diagnostics Inc
Date(s) of Service:
Amount Charged Amount Allowed Amount Paid Coinsurance Copay
$108.10 $24.69 $24.69 $0.00 $0.00
Check out what the charges were for my heptimax test,
and what the ins co (top of the line policy, Blue Cross Blue Shield) deems 'amount allowed'
The lab requests $442 but accepts, $33 .....Thats less than 8% of their charged amount.
So are the providers overcharging for their services? Or are they getting screwed by the ins companies, and getting under payed. I know that heptimax test is a very complicated test that is only done in the Quest Nichols Institute Labs. Seems like $33 is not much to pay a laboratory for a complicated multi part test. $33 is including blood draw, and shipping frozen blood sample to out of state lab. Also, Blue Cross pays Quest the same price for a <50pcr and a Heptimax, and Quest accepts it. Guess it pays to be a heavy weight when your in the insurance business.
apache
Probably a lot less than what we, as individuals, would pay, if we had to pay out of pocket, without ins company discounts. As far as I know, now Blue Cross only uses Quest for all blood work and thus negotiated very very reasonable costs imo.
Here is my insurance summary from Blue Cross of negotiated costs with Quest diagnostics.
If I was the supervisor of the Blue Cross representative that negotiated these rates for Blue Cross, I would get them a raise and bonus.
Description of Service: HEPATITIS C, RNA, QUANT, HEPTIMAX <5 IU/mL
Physician: Quest Diagnostics Inc
Amount Charged Amount Allowed Amount Paid Coinsurance Copay
$442.00 $33.52 $33.52 $0.00 $0.00
Description of Service: ASSAY THYROID STIM HORMONE
Physician: Quest Diagnostics Inc
Date(s) of Service:
Amount Charged Amount Allowed Amount Paid Coinsurance Copay
$108.10 $13.14 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Remarks:
* FRAGMENTED/UNBUNDLED CHARGES
Description of Service: ASSAY OF BLOOD/URIC ACID
Physician: Quest Diagnostics Inc
Date(s) of Service:
Amount Charged Amount Allowed Amount Paid Coinsurance Copay
$33.70 $3.53 $3.53 $0.00 $0.00
Description of Service: GENERAL HEALTH PANEL
Physician: Quest Diagnostics Inc
Date(s) of Service:
Amount Charged Amount Allowed Amount Paid Coinsurance Copay
$108.10 $24.69 $24.69 $0.00 $0.00
Check out what the charges were for my heptimax test,
and what the ins co (top of the line policy, Blue Cross Blue Shield) deems 'amount allowed'
The lab requests $442 but accepts, $33 .....Thats less than 8% of their charged amount.
So are the providers overcharging for their services? Or are they getting screwed by the ins companies, and getting under payed. I know that heptimax test is a very complicated test that is only done in the Quest Nichols Institute Labs. Seems like $33 is not much to pay a laboratory for a complicated multi part test. $33 is including blood draw, and shipping frozen blood sample to out of state lab. Also, Blue Cross pays Quest the same price for a <50pcr and a Heptimax, and Quest accepts it. Guess it pays to be a heavy weight when your in the insurance business.
apache
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