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Posted 8/9/2014 2:31 PM (GMT -5)
My wife has been seeing a Pain Management Doctor for a couple of years.  As all of you know who are in the same situation, drug testing is expected.  My wife's doctor test her every nine months.  And the test are expensive.  The last time the testing company submitted a bill to her insurance was for $1,700.  The insurance company has repeatedly denied payment saying additional information is needed but the testing company has yet to respond to the request. My wife has been tested three times and to date we have not paid a dime to the testing company.  But there is no way we could afford the cost of testing anyway.  Her Pain Management Doctor has gone so far as to tell her to ignore any request for payment because they will write it off.  Have any of you been in a similar situation?  We don't intend to pay any amount until they satisfy the insurance company's request for additional information.  After all, we have insurance for a reason and if the testing company wants to be paid, then they need to provide the insurance company the information requested.  I just have a feeling all of this is going to come back and haunt us some day. 
Posted 8/9/2014 3:50 PM (GMT -5)
I agree it may come back to haunt you some day. Unless the actual drug testing is done in the drs office and the dr charges for it, the dr has no say over if you have to pay it ot not. If the drug tests are done at a different place that the drs, they can sue you for not paying the bill. You really need to follow up with the place the tests are done at. You do agree to pay for the services that are rendered, even when you have insurance.
Posted 8/9/2014 4:58 PM (GMT -5)
That's definitely where they get us. In our signed contract (of any sort, actually), we agree to be financially responsible for every penny, with or without insurance.

Does her doc do the testing in-house or send the lab work out to a third party?










M.
Posted 8/9/2014 5:14 PM (GMT -5)
Well I imagine they are not responding to the insurance company because it wouldn't do them any good. The honest truth is I have never heard of any tox screen costing anywhere close to that amount.

Do you honestly think potential employers such as McDonald's could afford such amounts for possible employees?

The majority of tox screens that include opiates,benzodiazepines,marijuana,cocaine,and amphetamines even if they include test specific drugs such as whatever you are taking run only in a few hundred dollars amount. If they are testing for suboxone or methadone then add another 100-150 dollars. That's a very long way from the amount your quoting.

Ask your Dr if he would be willing to allow testing at another lab.
Posted 8/9/2014 5:31 PM (GMT -5)
Vickie is right. But, that the company can charge you whatever they want. Get the name of the test, the company who makes it and look it up on the internet. Also look up your local Better Business Bureau and do a search on the lab that runs the test and see if they have had similar complanits.
Posted 8/9/2014 6:32 PM (GMT -5)
Yep, I'm going to agree with Vickie again. I've never heard of such an incredible price for a tox screen.

I get tested every 3 months and I'd sure as heck notice bills coming through for that amount, but nooooo!

What really peeves me is that we can swing by the local Walgreens or something and pick a test up off the shelf for under $50.00.

I know, I know, they can charge what they want, we're paying for their service, there's a contract between doc and lab, blah-beddy-blah and all that hoopla. But I'm just sayin'....it's ludicrous.











M.
Posted 8/9/2014 7:38 PM (GMT -5)
The drug test is sent to a lab in Nashville TN. We live in SC. I could give you the name of the company, but I don't know it if is permitted. Oddly the company has never sent us any type of bill from the two previous tests dating back more than 18 months. While they billed the insurance company $1,700 they just sent us a bill for $119. There is no mention of the $1,700 on the bill and actually shows an adjustment of $486. It shows various tests: Urinalysis, colchrom, creatinine, PH body fluid except blood, and two for Spectrophotometry...whatever all that means. One reason I have not paid anything on the bill is that my insurance company specifically states in the handbook that they negotiate prices with doctors, etc and we are only responsible for our portion. In this particular case the company has failed to provide the insurance company with proper information so a determination can be made on how much payment should be allowed.
Posted 8/9/2014 9:38 PM (GMT -5)
You might want to ask your doctor what all your being tested for, you do have a right to know. Sounds like your doctor is dropping the ball on this as they should be sending all the information into the insurance company...It's the Doctor's office responsibility to send it all into the insurance for payment, so everything starts there...
Posted 8/9/2014 10:36 PM (GMT -5)
Thanks for all the advice. Guess that will be the next step...to find out what all she is being tested for and why it is so expensive. I really do need to get some sort of answers on all of this.
Posted 8/10/2014 1:55 AM (GMT -5)
Those are Not things included in a tox screen?? I don't know what they are testing for or what exactly your Drs office has marked for testing but U/A's,Creatinine are not things generally found in tox screening. He may have included regular labs to be done along with the tox but can't imagine why.

Again I urge you to ask him if he's willing to allow local testing. You can imagine medicaid /Medicare paying those prices right?
Posted 8/11/2014 9:48 PM (GMT -5)
Unfortunately I got my first bill for over $300 from my pcp sending me for blood work. She did the tox screen, but also a lot of other things. I called my doctor's office, and the receptionist said that they don't do anything. It's between the insurance company and the company that they use for blood work, etc.

I hope you can get this straightened out really soon.

hugs
Loretta
Posted 8/12/2014 1:15 AM (GMT -5)
Thanks Loretta,
In some ways it all seems like some little scam, especially with some of the responses I have read and how much a drug screen should cost. I just can't help but wonder if the company billed insurance $1700 in hopes they would pay something and knowing I couldn't pay anything close to that amount. How else do you explain that the company never sent me a bill or attempted to make any type of collection from the two previous bills dating back more than a year. And now they have changed up their strategy again billing the insurance company $1700 and when that didn't fly, sending me a bill for $119.
Posted 8/13/2014 7:11 PM (GMT -5)
I too had a drug screen done by an old PM dr, the company was out of Ca. & they billed my PPO back then for a little over $2,000.. I just about flipped when I saw the EOB from my carrier. Of course they paid a very small amount only & I never received a bill from the company either. I did tell my PM dr how much this company was charging. He had no idea what they charged. It was a big rip off as far as I am concerned.
Posted 8/13/2014 8:47 PM (GMT -5)
I would definitely talk to her PM doctor and bring your paper work with you showing what test they are charging you for. Usually a PM doctor checks for drugs in the system, including the ones he is prescribing!  Not for creatinine and some of the other stuff you mentioned.  I agree with the others, the price is awfully high!  Who knows that company might be over charging and even trying to get paid more than once? I mean it would not be the first time a company would be doubling billing? Something sure doesn't sound right!  Maybe there is a reason they are not supplying to your insurance company with the information it needs to make a determination???  I don't think I would pay them anything either, but do keep all your paperwork and any documentation you have, including if you talk to any body about it on the phone, time and name of person you talked to and briefly synopsis of what was said.  You always want to make sure you CYA in situations such as this, because they always seem to come back and bite you if you don't!

Good Luck to You!

White Beard

Posted 8/14/2014 3:13 AM (GMT -5)
The biggest thing is make sure your wife's Dr knows everything and assure him your wife's willing to test anywhere but you would rather not it be there until someone gets some answers on this billing issue. You certainly don't want to come across as she's refusing the lab work and violate her contract.
Posted 8/14/2014 4:27 AM (GMT -5)
Thanks for all the advice and information.
Posted 8/14/2014 10:27 AM (GMT -5)
Ask the Lab that did the tests for an Itemized Bill. And ask your dr for a copy of the orders he sent to the lab, then cross reference the two. Tox screens alone do not cost anywhere near this amount of money.

Post Edited (Mercy&Grace) : 8/14/2014 11:28:53 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 8/21/2014 1:52 PM (GMT -5)
Thanks again everyone for your advice.  Thought I would give a follow up.  I sent an email last week to the lab advising them that if they wanted to get paid they needed to provide the information requested by the insurance company.  And I also asked for an itemized bill.  They never responded to my request and even though it has only been a little over a week, there is no evidence they have submitted any follow up documents to the insurance company.  Incidentally, the bill was for testing back in mid-June.  I don't know if it will help, but I am glad I have something in writing where I have, in good faith, tried to communicate with the lab and their response has been silence.  If they try to take some action against my wife, at least I will have that working in my favor.  It still seems so strange they have made no attempt to collect on three bills over the past two years.  How on earth can they stay in business?
Posted 8/21/2014 7:09 PM (GMT -5)
You may want to call them. Just because a business has an email doesn't mean they check it. If you don't have Return Receipt program where you are notified when it is opened & sometimes other info, you have no way of knowing if anyone has read it.
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