The Allegiant Experts Blog is notorious for covering stories that involve medical professionals and others bilking our nation’s health insurance programs for millions of dollars. And, in recent months, the coronavirus has given many medical professionals new opportunities to rip the system off.
Some coronavirus tests cost more than $2000.
Sara Kliff of the New York Times recently reported that a Dallas, Texas-based clinic is charging over $2000 for coronavirus tests when they should cost no more than $100. “Insurers have paid Gibson Diagnostic Labs as much as $2,315 for individual coronavirus tests,” she informs, “In a couple of cases, the price rose as high as $6,946 when the lab said it mistakenly charged patients three times the base rate.”
This is just one in a long line of examples of overbilling that Kliff has covered over the course of her career as a health care reporter. In fact, she has spent a lot of time reviewing medical bills from patients all over the country. As Kliff explains on Vox.com, she has actually examined bills emanating from every single state as well as the District of Columbia. What Kliff has discovered is nothing short of astounding.
She points out that the examined medical bills have covered everything from car accidents and heart attacks. They also cover odd circumstances like the swallowing of a coin and being hit in the head with a baseball. During the course of her research, however, Kliff noticed a number of alarming things.
Most medical bills are extremely high.
Imagine going to the hospital for nothing more than eye irritation. The medical staff provides you with some eye drops and then sends you home. Your total charge, on the bill that inevitably comes to you, is $238. Meanwhile, those same eye drops – a drug called ofloxacin – can cost as little as $15 in your local drug store. This actually happened to a woman who showed Kliff the bill she received following a hospital visit the day after her wedding.
Pregnancy test charges are also through the roof. “The bills in our database include a $236 pregnancy test delivered in Texas, a $147 pregnancy test in Illinois, and a $111 test in California,” reports Kliff, “The highest price I saw? A $465 pregnancy test at a Georgia emergency room. For that amount, you could buy 84 First Response tests on Amazon.”
You can be charged just for sitting in a waiting room.
Can you imagine not even receiving any treatment or medication and still getting a bill? This is happening all over the United States, says Kliff. Shockingly, many people are receiving large medical bills even when they don’t see a doctor. Even in instances when they decline treatment, patients are still charged hefty fees.
“I learned about this from a bill sent to me by Jessica Pell,” reveals Kliff, “She told me about going to an emergency room in New Jersey after she fell and cut her ear. She was given an ice pack but no other treatment. She never received a diagnosis. But she did get a bill for $5,751.”
Unfairly, many medical labs, drug companies, hospitals and doctors’ offices charge high prices to both insurance companies and patients without any consequences. Are you an attorney managing a case involving overbilling? If so, contact Allegiant Experts to learn about how we may be able to assist you. Call us at 407-217-5831 or email us at info@allegiantexperts.com.