We went in for a routine pregnancy check-up. These visits usually are no longer than 5-10 minutes. Since my regular Dr. was coming off a major surgery, we were referred over to this other Dr. named Dr, Richard Agnew. Once the check up was completed, we were offered to take a certain blood test that wasn't required for us to do. We declined to take the blood test. Mrs. Agnew (Dr. Agnew's wife) then stated that this test is 100% covered by the insurance company and there would be ZERO out of pocket to us.
Now, several weeks later, we received a bill for $843. We called the lab and they said that is what we owed after insurance paid their share. To our understanding, Mrs. Agnew said this would be ZERO out of pocket; now we see that isn't so. I called Dr. Agnew on SEVERAL occasions. They said this is the first issue they have had with the insurance covering this test 100%. I called them for 3 weeks to see what was going on; to see if any headway was done so this bill would be taken care of. Today, Mrs. Agnew said for us to make payments to the lab on this $843 and she took no accountability on this whatsoever. She then said take her to court.
To me it sounds like this practice generates some sort of kickback from the lab (which is illegal). They pitched this service claiming that it was 100% covered and Zero out of pocket. I never new $843 considered "no out of pocket." We are going to continue our course of action and pursue this in court. All I can do is advise anyone to be careful of the tests this practice pitches you and says it is covered 100% and zero out of pocket. Sounds like a shady operation to me...no pun intended...
Thanks.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
This issue has been resolved.
Well I appreciate your help.
Do you know of any?
We haven't...I am wondering if we can take this further rather than the 843 bucks...
I contacted them. 843 is just "our" portion. The test was over $2200
Sorry that happened...Terrible doctor. Stay away!
I'm happy to have read this and I'm glad I went with my intuition. They tried to do the same exact thing to me. Sure glad I didn't do it. I'm sorry that you had to go thru this. But I will say that I will never go to him again!
This practice is an absolute joke. They scam their patients by telling them a particular service is covered by the insurance company 100% and you will have 0 out of pocket. What they FAIL to tell you is that it is only covered to this degree if your entire deductible is already paid. I am quite certain this practice is taking some sort of kickback from the lab that they send the blood work to. You should not only sue them, but report them to the board!
WoW. Total RipOff! What a Crook!