Jeanne Pinder
Have you ever been stuck paying a really high fee for a lab test? You might be surprised to learn that some patients are shopping for health care — pricing out laboratory work, blood tests, and prescriptions before even heading to the doctor. Here’s what one patient commented on Facebook, and how we chronicled her […]
Jeanne Pinder
When my TED talk was posted again recently on Facebook, with prominent mention of disparities in lab test costs, there were a lot of comments. This one stood out, so I’m putting it here as part of our “A friend writes” series. She’s in the Knoxville, Tenn., area. “Yup!!! “I had a panel of tests […]
Jeanne Pinder
Blood tests can cost a lot — but one patient told us they were asked to pay $1,474.92 while Cigna, the insurer, paid nothing. The total charge for the blood tests at University of North Carolina Hospitals was $2,378. The patient said, “The UNC facility in question notably distinguished by Cigna as meeting certain quality […]
Jeanne Pinder
We know blood test costs vary widely between providers. Patients have paid hundreds or just above $30 for the same tests, often inexplicably, from different providers located very close to each other. But why? One of our partners seems to have cracked the code. “When UnitedHealthcare exited the Affordable Care Act exchange in Louisiana last […]
Jeanne Pinder
We collect and display cash or self-pay prices — what you would pay without insurance — for about 30-35 common, “shoppable” procedures. Why? To show the range of pricing for simple medical items, which can more or less be compared — as apples to apples. If you see that an MRI can cost $300 one […]
Jeanne Pinder
Blood test ordering is about to change.”Consumers will soon be able to bypass their doctors by going online to order cholesterol readings, thyroid tests and other bloodwork from the biggest diagnostics company in the U.S.,” Bloomberg News reports. The story is a reflection of the changing world of lab work. A number of online providers […]
Jeanne Pinder
(Updated 2022) The lab testing company Theranos failed in a dramatic scandal. Here’s our initial report about their work. There’s a new lab testing service that is quick, painless, inexpensive and more accurate than the current systems, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. It’s called Theranos, and it was founded by a […]
Jeanne Pinder
A friend came over to fill out our “tell us what you paid” forms. I’ve taken out some of the details, and left others. “Kidnapped by ambulance” might be a better headline for this, a $2,859 unreimbursed emergency room experience (and don’t miss the $1,699 blood test). I did know that uninsured people pay the […]
