I cannot seem to find anything on the internet about this, but back in July my husband and I had the cystic fibrosis screening done. We had it done because my doctor's office said that this particular lab will only make you pay $25 for the test if it is not covered by insurance. Fast forward to today where I open a bill for $1600! I was so nervous in the beginning of my pregnancy that I opted for any test they threw at me and now I could just kick myself. Has anyone had a similar experience? It's through a lab called Sequenom, has anyone ever been told that they would only pay a small amount if their insurance does not cover? I tried calling my doctor's billing dept. but no one seems to be in today...obviously I'm freaking out!
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My doctor's office did the same thing with my first pregnancy even when I specifically asked them not to do the test. I got a huge bill, but in the end it came out to exactly what your doctor's office stated...somewhere around a $25 bill. I was MIGHTY pissed over an entire weekend, though. And I'm still pissed they tested something that I specifically asked them not to test.
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@Espion: ew! That would make me so mad if I did not want the test and then get a huge bill in the mail! I'm glad you had the amount reduced. Did you just call the lab that was billing and they reduced it? I keep thinking that I imagined my doctor's office saying the bill will be reduced.
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@soyjoy222: It got sorted out through the doctor's office. Turns out they had an agreement with the company that allowed reduced cost. To whose benefit, I have no idea...
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I had something like this happen when we did genetic testing - I got blood drawn at an in-network lab, but they sent it out to an out of network lab. I contested it, saying I had no knowledge that it would be done out of network, and I got refunded the money.
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This happened to me a couple of years ago with the Counsyl carrier testing, which sounds similar. They billed my insurance for several thousand dollars, which of course was not covered, and then sent me an adjusted bill for only $99 (what my RE had initially told me would be our maximum spend for these tests). Good luck getting it sorted out!
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@soyjoy222: I think that is fairly common for the lab to have some sort of arrangement about charging less if insurance does not cover it. I would try not to worry too much about it just yet. I know that with the Harmony test I was told that if insurance wouldn't cover it, my responsibility would be $250. I know several people for whom it wasn't covered that paid that amount, so I do think they hold true to that agreement. I hope you get it straightened out asap! I would maybe call the lab if you can't get through to your doctor's billing department today, to see if they can help you.
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I figured I would update this in case someone searches a similar topic
I called the lab that the bill came through and they reduced the $1600 charge to $25 since my insurance rejected it and they could then file it under "patient assistance". I now call about any bill I get...I can't imagine how many people might send in a check for the full amount thinking they need to pay it 
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@soyjoy222: yay! So glad you got it resolved! I think mine should have been covered 100%, but for some reason my insurance rejected it. I have to try to figure out why, but at least the genetic testing company already reduced it to $99, so that is the worst case scenario for me.
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I ended up having some genetic testing done and Sequenom was the lab - I was told they were out of network and to call Sequenom when I got my insurance bill and let them know it wasn't covered. The max I was to pay was $200. Somehow though my insurance ended up covering it. I did speak with Sequenom a couple of times before I got the test done and before I got the bill from my insurance company - they were responsive.
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I got a $725 bill from the Sequenom lab for my genetic test at 10 weeks. I talked to my doctor a week or so ago. She told me to send her the information to have her write a letter of medical necessity. She told me not to pay it whatsoever. After the new year, I'm going to fax all of the information to her to get the letter written.
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