I am pregnant and have no maternity benefits with my insurance. My doctor negotiated a lower rate to help me out. The hospital negotiates a lower rate to help me. Yet Quest claims they have no such thing and that I must pay in full unless I make under 40K per year for a family of 4! Of course my family of 4 makes more than that as most do. I wish I could simply find some help online about negotiating with these rip off artists.
This is for $1400.00 in lab work charges that I KNOW they would accept 10-20% in a negotiated rate from an insurance company. They typically negotiate that amount with my insurance for their overinflated bills on covered expenses. But they won't negotiate a single penny for an individual on their uncovered expenses (maternity benefits).
They are gouging the "little guy" so bad and I have no idea where to turn to get them to lower their obscene charges!
Does anyone have advice?
This is a nightmare with QUEST!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Have you considered finding a different lab? If you are in a urban/suburban area you should have some other companies to choose from. You can probably ask your OB's office for suggestions/recommendations. Good Luck!
Perhaps you should not have any more children if you can not afford them. You are not entittled to a handout just because you got pregnant and do not have insurance. Birth control is much cheeper, try that next time.
I'm having the same problem! We have medical insurance but just no maternity. Unlike what ignorant crispycreamy said above, I'm not looking for a hand out, I'm asking to be charged fairly! Anyways, I'm getting some hefty bills from Quest on my blood work and I'm just apalled. Let me know how you resolved this situation. Thanks!
Same problem with both me and my husband. We had to do some blood tests and urinalysis as a requirement for adopting a child. BlueCrossBlueShield, our insurance, did not cover it, although we didn't know a that time. So Quest has sent us each bill for more than $1000 (about $2200 bot both of us). We have checked online, and other labs in our area have exactly the same standard tests for 11 times less!
They called me to setup a payment plan, but I think this is an outrageously high charge, and have requested them to come bakc with "more reasonable" charges. Anybody has had any success with a similar request? Also, I'm curious what is the worst thing that can happen if I just refuse to pay an arm and a leg for the equivalent of peanuts?
We have also had the same problem. I have discounted amounts with my doctor, anesthesiologist, and hospital charges, but Quest refuses to make any adjustments. I was charged 300% higher than the negotiated rate with my insurance company - by the way I am insured, but without maternity benefits. Is asking to be charged fairly for the same services asking for a handout? I think not. Perhaps the idiot crispycreamy above likes to pay 3x the amount that others are being charged for the same services simply because their insurance does not cover it.
I am with you. I've been through the same with this company, I had to take a blood test that my insurance doesn't covered for my age, unfortunately, I didn't know that quest diagnostic will charge this amount. They asked for 400 hundred dollars, however, my insurance only will pay 53 dollars for the same test, they did that to my husband and this is what he paid.
You can see that is less than 80% of my bill. I asked for a discount and they told me that the don't do this kind of thing.
What do that means? First of all for them the individuals doesn't have any right, pretty sad. The money is the same with insurance or without it. They are abuse with the unisurance person because they can. Really, shame of them.
I know this is an old post but I want to reiterate that you should try another lab such as labCorp, Clincal Pathologists etc. If you do have insurance see which other labs you can use besides Quest-they are nothing but a bunch of crooks and will max out their allowable with your insurance company. Discounts should be given for a cash pay people anyway-They are getting paid UPFRONT and do not have to submit claims with insurance which takes time and requires hiring people or an outside company to take care of.
Quest Diagnostics is horrible. Just like several other people have posted all over the web, they will not negotiate or discount their rates for individuals. I am willing to pay them immediately if they will agree to a 20-30% discount off their "retail" pricing. Our hospital, Ob-Gyn, anesthesiologist, and even the other lab we've used (LabCorp) all offer discounts to self-pay patients. Not Quest. I will never use Quest Diagnostics again and I strongly recommend everyone else avoid them as well. 75% discounts to multi-billion-dollar insurance companies; 0% to individuals. I'm not saying what they're doing is illegal, just plain dumb and (long-term) unwise.
they do it because they can get away with it. just like so many crooked banks and corruptions. Make sure when your doctor takes a blood test that the company is not quest diagnostics and ask your doctor the prices of the company he uses.
and to the dumb second comment (crispycreme) millions of americans dont have insurance at no fault of their own. they cant find jobs due to the economy and or cant work due to their medical conditions. And no-one is asking for a handout we are asking not to be ripped off that is what this company is doing their are many other companies who offer the same services for a lot less so obviously quest is doing something wrong. And regardless of how much money people have everyone has the right to have children. Having children is an amazing gift regardless of how much it costs and if people just stopped having children because of money then society would really not be able to function! and all because some people may have a hard time affording children does not mean they should have an abortion and take their lives. I am sure those children would like to be alive being poor then not be alive at all! the problem with the world is not the poor but the ignorant selfish hateful people like yourself. Having children is what makes so many poor suffering people able to go on with their lives and you have no right to tell someone they cant have children!
Farrah KLP B18 is the worst representative I have ever spoken to. She was rude, unhelpful and acted like she didn't care at all whether a customer came or stayed, and how they felt. She put me on hold indefinitely when I asked to speak with a Supervisor, saying hang tight. I will request for none of my labs to be with them at my doctors. Worst rep ever
I also had a similar problem with Quest. I have no insurance as I am retired. I am new to the area so my doctor suggested Quest for my yearly blood work. They charged me $901.86 . I was FLOORED. After which I found another lab and asked what they would charge for the same tests, it was $322.00! If I had been familiar with my area I could have gone there! Talk about ripping off people! How can they get away with this?