Billed for a Test I Thought Was Free

**Charles-clubmed** · 04-13-2009, 06:25 PM

My question involves medical malpractice in the state of: new jersey

Hello im happy to put my message here becaus may be that will help me.. i hope.. i from france i'm 21 year old i have a J-1 visa.. i came to see a doctor for my shoulder 4mouth ago , the doctor asked me some question about my life ect.. and he ask me if i had some girl firends, and he ask me if i want do the HIV test , i said hum.. only if my inssurance cover it or only if is free, well he said ok i understand i will chek that for you, he left and come back 10 min after and told me yes is cover by your insurance policy, anyway in this stats , hiv test is cover by the gouvernement... well i said ok we can do it... then after 2 mouth i received an bill to 250 $ from quest dignostic because my insurance don't cover it , and they never covered it before,.. my insurance want know nothing, but i understand because is write on they're website... quest dignostic just want to be paid they can do nothing for me... and my doctor and the office told me it was an human beiing but they can't do nothing ... well i have to pay they humain beeing from an other people... is not fair at all! i need help , i have right in this case? what can i do? thanks a lot!

**lealea1005** · 04-14-2009, 04:17 AM

Quoting Charles-clubmed

My question involves medical malpractice in the state of: new jersey

Hello im happy to put my message here becaus may be that will help me.. i hope.. i from france i'm 21 year old i have a J-1 visa.. i came to see a doctor for my shoulder 4mouth ago , the doctor asked me some question about my life ect.. and he ask me if i had some girl firends, and he ask me if i want do the HIV test , i said hum.. only if my inssurance cover it or only if is free, well he said ok i understand i will chek that for you, he left and come back 10 min after and told me yes is cover by your insurance policy, anyway in this stats , hiv test is cover by the gouvernement... well i said ok we can do it... then after 2 mouth i received an bill to 250 $ from quest dignostic because my insurance don't cover it , and they never covered it before,.. my insurance want know nothing, but i understand because is write on they're website... quest dignostic just want to be paid they can do nothing for me... and my doctor and the office told me it was an human beiing but they can't do nothing ... well i have to pay they humain beeing from an other people... is not fair at all! i need help , i have right in this case? what can i do? thanks a lot!

"Covered" doesn't always mean "paid". Among many reasons....could have gone to your deductible....could have ben Quest was not in network with your insurance company....could have been the Doctor's office was given the wrong information by a representative from your insurance company.

It is always best for YOU, the consumer, to call your insurance company and check coverage and network status.

**dansoc** · 04-15-2009, 12:29 PM

Welcome to the wonderful world of medicine in the US. Covered doesn't mean paid and the providers don't know the difference. You are on your own.

Imagine my surprise when I found my insurance "annual maximum out of pocket" of $3000/year didn't include the $2500 deductible. The max, maximum out of pocket was $5500. Gotta read the fine print, ya know?

But I digress. If you care about your credit, pay the bill. If you don't have it all, send $25/month. Quest will probably be happy as long as they get a check every month until it is paid. One thing about it, things are so bad and so confusing, most providers allow people time to pay things off as long as they are trying.

**Charles-clubmed** · 04-16-2009, 11:06 AM

Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 2
Well thanks for all your answer, i spoke to my doctor 2days ago and he told me he didn't check for me... because he dont have time for check for every body? it means he told me yes is will be cover without have any information... and he didn't told me to check with my insurance before to do anything... he lied to me!!! what can i do for that?? i start at the newjersey deptarement of blanking and insurance... is good or not? thanks a lot

**lealea1005** · 04-17-2009, 04:06 AM

Although it sucks that the Doctor may have lied about checking your coverage, it is still YOUR responsibility to know the specifics of your insurance policy. Would you sign any other contract without reading it thoroughly?

Doctors, especially those that are employed by large groups or clinics, have no idea what goes on in the billing department. They are hired to provide medical services. Period.

If you wanted a free HIV test, you could have gone to the local health department.

**dansoc** · 04-29-2009, 02:48 PM

I'm afraid the doctor sucks and you are not going to have any luck with this. Quest didn't know he lied to you and they performed the service. I would do as I suggested above, which is send them a few bucks each month until it is paid off.

About the only satisfaction you will get with this is to go to a website that rates doctors and write about what happened.