So I got a $500 bill for a Cystic Fibrosis test...

[Weevil]

... that I specifically said I didn't want. Apparently it was submitted by the OB/GYN office that I went to for my first prenatal appointment before I switched to a freestanding birth center.

The day of the appointment, they were running behind. My appointment was for 2:30pm and we waited and waited. By the time I got into their lab to have my blood drawn it was close to 5:00pm. I was given a few forms to sign, one of which was consent for a Cystic Fibrosis test. I had previously called my insurance company about this test and they said they didn't cover it without preauthorization (they also told me - several times - they didn't cover the birth center we wanted to go to, which ended up being wrong - they do cover it after all). I said to the tech/phlebotomist (who was distracted and talking to someone else) "Oh I don't think my insurance covers this test," and she said something about how most did. I still checked "no" and signed the form because I don't have any risk factors for the disease.

That was two months ago. A few days ago I received a $506 bill from Genzyme. It didn't even say what the bill was for, I had to call to find out They said the Dr's office hadn't submitted my insurance information, so I gave it to them thinking maybe they could run it through insurance and *maybe* they would cover it and solve the issue. Now I'm wondering if that was the best thing to do. I did call the Dr's office, but as usual the person I needed to talk to wasn't available.

What are my rights in this situation? What's the best plan of action? I don't want to be left responsible for this bill (I've been made responsible for billing errors in the past at this very same hospital and I'm getting sick of it). I'm assuming they can't hold me responsible since I signed the form specifically stating that I did not want this test, but worry that they will somehow find a way to make me responsible for it. I'm even second guessing myself thinking that maybe I checked "yes" by mistake. I'm hoping I'm just worrying over nothing, but I've been screwed over before by bills that at first glance seemed like a stupid mistake but I ended up having to pay

[Tresa]

If there's a form with your clear indication against it and you signed it? They can't hold you accountable for running the test anyway.

If they try, i'd call your local news company, they usually have a consumer advocate reporter who loves to expose bad business practices and make things right.

That's SO ridiculous!

[Baby~Braatens~Mama]

Not cool! I am sorry that you are going throught this!

[Laurski]

Request your medical records from this doctor. By law you have a right to them (although you may have to pay copying fees); I believe your records should include the form you signed. (If not, request the form also.) Then make sure you get the bill back from your doctor, unless you have a copy at home (always make copies!).

Start by contacting the billing manager at your doctor's office, as well as whomever is in charge of the lab. Tell them what you've told us. If you already received a copy of your medical records, send them a copy of the non-consent form you signed. If you don't have the records yet, tell them to look up the form. Tell them you refuse to pay Genzyme for the mistake *they* made. Be firm, be polite, but be persistent. If your doctor's office is anything like my (former) doctor's office, you may have to call over and over again to get the billing manager to actually talk to you. If the billing manager doesn't get back to you, contact the doctor--we had a similar situation in which we had to get the doctor involved--and doctors HATE getting phone calls about this billing stuff, which means that doing so might get them to light a fire under the billing manager's butt.

Keep a record of *every time you call* the billing manager. Write down the date, the time, and the substance of the conversation, no matter how minor. If you left a message, indicate that you left a message. You can use this information to convey your frustration to the doctor, if the billing manager consistently ignores your calls.

Also be in contact with Genzyme (send them copies of the non-consent form) and your insurance company. Again, be firm, be polite, be persistent. Let whomever you spoke to at each place know that you did not consent to the test, and you are working with your doctor's office to get this billing issue resolved. Tell them you are not responsible for payment; it is the doctor's office's responsibility to absorb the cost, and you are working with them to sort it out. You may still end up getting a notice that the bill is going to collections--just keep in contact with the companies and explain why this is not reasonable, given your situation.

I can't guarantee all of this will work, but your goal is to create a paper trail that assures that *someone* other than you is accountable for the mess that they created.

We had a similar situation not once, but twice, with my former doctor's lab. First, DH received the wrong CF test (I tested positive, so he needed a more comprehensive test, orders which the lab tech ignored and so gave him the 32, rather than the 97, marker test, so he had to get tested again, and they wanted us to pay for both tests), then, they took my blood for the Ashkenazi Jewish panel (I'm adopted, hence the tests), but never performed the test, yet submitted a bill to Genzyme, which was then passed along to us.

We had a long, long battle with the doctor's office, Genzyme, and the insurance company for several months (with a bill even going to collections), but ultimately, through DH's persistence, we were able to get the first CF bill absorbed by the doctor's office and the Ashkenazi bill waived. Having all of my medical records really helped us show them how they screwed up.

Oy, that was a novel. I really hope this helps. If you have any other questions, you can PM me, if you'd like, and I can ask DH more specific questions about how he handled the situation (I was was too pregnantly emotional to deal with the jerks involved in the whole fiasco...).

[lillymonster]

Keep copies of everything and keep up on calling everyone. I have had something similar and had the doctor's office had to eat the cost.

[nia82]

I'm so sorry for you! I had a docs office once bill me for a preggo test that I never asked for nor did I leave a urine nor blood sample, sooo.... It took 6 weeks to sort it out though. Quite a pain in the neck.

[Weevil]

Thanks to everyone for the responses! Laurski, thanks for the "novel", it's very helpful I'm a little surprised that it seems to be so common for it to be so difficult to get mistakes like this corrected (I shouldn't be though, because I've experienced it in the past, with bills going to collections that my insurance already paid in full!)

I was at the hospital today for a dental appointment and while I was there I stopped into the office in question. The birth center I transferred to has requested my records TWICE (via fax) from this office and hasn't received anything from them. So I went in the see what the deal was. I filled out the release form and while I was there I asked for a copy of my records as well (without saying why). I don't know if they would deliberately leave that form out or not if they knew why I wanted them, but I don't want to give them any reason to "forget" to include it (hopefully the secretary I talked to the other day didn't say anything to anyone about it, because she told me who I needed to talk to but she wasn't in and I said I would call back, which I haven't yet).

Hopefully this won't be too big of a deal to get reversed. These things are never easy though, they always just bounce you from person to person with nobody wanting to take responsibility

[Naomismom]

Ugh, billing!

With my first pregnancy, I was billed extra for having a vbac. It took DH spelling it out for them very, very clearly that it's impossible to have a VBAC with your first child.

[Weevil]

Originally Posted by Naomismom

Ugh, billing!

With my first pregnancy, I was billed extra for having a vbac. It took DH spelling it out for them very, very clearly that it's impossible to have a VBAC with your first child.

Oh gosh that is so funny! Sometimes I think people really are clueless or just play dumb so they don't actually have to do something about it!

[Elle Jay]

Something similar has just happened to me. I went into my doctor's office for what I thought was routine first trimester blood work. I just got a bill for cystic fibrosis testing for $750. I was not even told they were testing for this, nor was I given any paperwork to apporove or deny this testing be done. Can I be held responsible for this?

The only optional bloodwork I was presented with was the early blood test to determine the sex of the baby for $250, which I declined because I don't have $250 to spend on that. I am a nervous wreck right now. I don't have $750 to pay for this.

[mediumcrunch]

If the OB cannot present the form you signed where you checked YES and requested the test you aren't liable to pay for it. This will require a lot of phone calls on your part and possibly even being sent to collections before it is ironed out but in the end, you are in the right and eventually the OB office will take the liability just because they are sick of dealing with it.

meaningless factoid: I pass a Genzyme office building everytime I go to the OB

[Weevil]

Update:

So, I submitted the claim to insurance and decided to just wait and see what happened before I pursued things with the dr's office. I kept checking online and for the longest time the claim was listed as "in review" and I was just waiting for them to reject it. Well the other day it changed to "completed" and it looks like insurance paid the entire thing!

That's twice now I've had coverage for something I was explicitly told I did not have coverage for. It makes you wonder...

I'm just happy that this was all much ado about nothing