Lab sent Bill but never sent test results

[Mehdi]

Jurisdiction

Texas

In December 2014, my doctor have requested that I do a test, the lab that collected the sample claimed at that time that they are in network and that the test is covered by my insurance.

In 2015, the lab sent a $6,325 bill to the insurance which was denied because the test was not approved by the medical community.

In 2016, the lab send me a bill asking me to pay $186 for this test. I contacted my doctor and he said that he never received any test results.

Should I mail a certified letter (with return receipt) to the lab saying that they have breached the contract by not providing the results on a timely manner, and therefore they cannot claim any payment of any sort and later:

- Negotiate with the lab to reduce the bill by %30 to %50 in exchange of mailing the results and paying the new due balance in full.
- Or pay the balance in full and sue the lab in small claim court for breach of contract.

My ultimate objective is to pay a minimum to nothing and avoid having the bill sent to collection.

Please Advise

 

[adjusterjack]

For Pete's sake, just call up and ask for a duplicate of the test results. You aren't going to get out of paying.

 

[army judge]

If I were you, I'd simply pay the lousy $186 to make this disappear.
I suspect you've invested $18,000 of worry over this by now.
Pay the $186 and get your life back.

 

[Mehdi]

I already asked for a duplicate of the test result last year while they submitted the claim through the insurance, they said that I should get my test result through my doctor because he need to review them first.
My doctor said that the lab results are useless because he didn't get them on a timely manner.
I even considered filing a HIPPA complaint against the lab, but now that they are asking for money I may have some leverage.
The test result are DNA testing, they may not solve my problem now, but they may help in the future.

 

[army judge]

I already asked for a duplicate of the test result last year while they submitted the claim through the insurance, they said that I should get my test result through my doctor because he need to review them first.
My doctor said that the lab results are useless because he didn't get them on a timely manner.
I even considered filing a HIPPA complaint against the lab, but now that they are asking for money I may have some leverage.
The test result are DNA testing, they may not solve my problem now, but they may help in the future.

Sometimes you don't get what you want.
You can waste time and fret over it, pay for it to make it go away, and have it done by a trusted resource.

Bottom line, pay the lousy $186, get rid of potential trouble, have your physician order new tests from an insurance approved laboratory.

 

[Betty3]

I wouldn't want to pay $6000+ but $186.00 - I would pay it.

It's HIPAA (not HIPPA) though I don't know what type of HIPAA complaint you have.

 

[cbg]

I'm not seeing a HIPAA complaint either. They didn't release your records to a third party without authorization - what HIPAA violation do you think occurred?

 

[ElleMD]

The $186 is likely your portion after insurance paid. If your doctor didn't get the results, the doctor should have called to follow up. In most cases, yes, test results which are over a year old are not going to be terribly useful. That does not mean the lab should not be paid.