Charged for Medical Services I Did Not Authorize
My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: New Jersey
Is it legal for medical providers to charge me for services that I did not authorize? This has happened to me a few times now, and although I have often been able to get the charges removed eventually, it is an extremely stressful process and companies act as though they are doing me a favor by removing the charges.
For example, if I have told my doctor's office that I do not want to get a certain type of blood test and they accidentally order it anyway, and the tests are done without my knowledge using blood samples that I had provided for other tests, am I legally obligated to pay the bill?
Or if I asked the price of a service in advance and they quoted me a certain amount and I paid it in advance and received a receipt, are they allowed to call me five weeks later and inform me that the doctor provided additional services without my knowledge and that the new bill is 3 times the amount they quoted me?
I seem to run into these types of problems rather frequently, and no matter how much I try to make sure that I do not receive services that are too expensive, I seem to end up with enormous bills anyway. I do not understand why doctors and hospitals and labs seem to think that if you agree to pay for one service, they are automatically authorized to provide any services they like. I am very clear about what I want (or don't want), and when I know I will have to pay for a service myself, I typically discuss the cost with more than one person from the company.
And just to be clear, NONE of these services for which I had billing issues were for medical emergencies.
How can I make sure I do not get medical services I don't want? It is so exhausting to fight the bills after-the-fact!
Re: Is It Legal to Charge Me for Medical Services I Did Not Authorize
I do have a quick question. When they're drawing your blood, do you ask what they're testing for?
What other services are being performed without your knowledge?
Re: Is It Legal to Charge Me for Medical Services I Did Not Authorize
In the case I mentioned, I had taken a paper with me from the doctor's office which ordered several blood tests which are routine in early pregnancy. The nurse who wrote the order asked me if I wanted genetic testing, and I said no, but somehow the genetic tests were done anyway.
Typically I only know about diagnostic services (lab tests, ultrasounds, etc.) that are performed without my knowledge because those are the services that my insurance doesn't cover.
Another example was when I called a lab to ask about a particular blood test, and was told a certain price, and when I got the bill it was for four tests instead of one. They call that "reflex testing," because if they get a certain result from the first test, they automatically do other tests, without asking the patient first. Of course nobody had discussed this "reflex testing" policy with me when I first asked about the price. I wrote a strong letter to the lab's main office complaining about that, and in the end the charges for the other three tests were removed.