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Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,510
Registered: ‎05-23-2010

Re: Would you take this risk to save quite a bit of money?

When you are a patient in a hospital they ask for your SS# when you go to the account desk before payment or signing in. Doctors offices also have your SS# and so do pharmacies. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 10,620
Registered: ‎09-22-2010

Re: Would you take this risk to save quite a bit of money?

If I needed the test and could not afford the $750 I would. 

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,201
Registered: ‎10-16-2020

Re: Would you take this risk to save quite a bit of money?

[ Edited ]

@Mindy D wrote:

Would you submit your tax return to the maker of an expensive diagnostic lab test to get a very large reduction in the cost of the test? Would you run the risk of sending your tax information to a lab company?

There is a specialized test that can differentiate GI problems and help a doctor make a correct diagnosis after other testing, upper endoscopy, colonoscopy, CT scans, upper and lower GI, has not been able to help the specialist come to a conclusion.

 

Only one lab in the U.S. has the rights to the testing. It's proprietary and the doctor makes no money when using the test. It's strictly for getting the correct diagnosis. If your insurance turns you down for coverage then you submit a form asking for a reduction of cost along with verifying documents, which would consist of income tax, to the company. The form goes to the lab company. They have a program to reduced prices when insurance does not cover this testing. Many private insurances cover the test but Medicare and Advantage Plans might not.

 

The test cost $750.00. The reduction would be lowered to a cost of either $75, $175, or $250, depending on income. 


@Mindy Dthen why doesn't he just do the test for free.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 43,344
Registered: ‎08-23-2010

Re: Would you take this risk to save quite a bit of money?

I just want to mention that I have refused to provide full SS number a few times ...  instead I give them just the last 4 digits, and no one has challenged me or demanded the full number. 

 

Honestly, I doubt this always works, but it has worked for me in the past.  

Honored Contributor
Posts: 32,116
Registered: ‎05-10-2010

Re: Would you take this risk to save quite a bit of money?

I wouldn't because I could easily pay $750, which really isn't expensive when it comes to specialized tests.  I've seen tests that cost 3 times that.  If I needed the discount because medically, I needed the test; I would have to give them my tax return.  My health would come before my privacy.  

Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,510
Registered: ‎05-23-2010

Re: Would you take this risk to save quite a bit of money?

@agb80 @This test is never free. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,329
Registered: ‎11-16-2014

Re: Would you take this risk to save quite a bit of money?

I would get another specialist @Mindy D . Test happy physicians I walk away from after learning my lesson years ago that they are often incompetent.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,510
Registered: ‎05-23-2010

Re: Would you take this risk to save quite a bit of money?

I looked at some programs for reduced costs from other companies. Some require tax documents for their program while others don't. Some require permission for a credit check or tax documents. I don't see how this would prove which income bracket a person is in in order to distinguish which amount a patient would pay.

 

I did check the lab company out with the Better Business Bureau and there were sixteen complaints, mostly due to billing errors and the inability of customers to get anyone at the company to answer the phone or reply to written correspondence about the errors. This makes me uneasy because if I pay them, what if they claim they were not paid? Iguess my bank would be my record. Some patients paid and were sent to collections even though they paid, usually due to billing and payment mixups. 

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 15,813
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: Would you take this risk to save quite a bit of money?

No. Less hassle to just pay the $750.

Since you can now get up front medical costs. Check each location in your area to see what the best prices are.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,686
Registered: ‎11-03-2018

Re: Would you take this risk to save quite a bit of money?

This seems like a giant scam to me.