Anxiety from Large Lab Orders-To Have Labs or Not to Have Labs???

At my recent appointment, I received 2 large lab orders, one for LabCorp and another for Quest. She told me to find out from the labs which are covered and only get those. However, when I called LabCorp, of course they won't tell me what is covered and what is not. All they will do is give me their pricing, which is literally thousands of dollars.

In the past, I have gone to Quest and gotten a few labs at a time done. They have been fairly good about telling me how much things are going to cost. Except, the last time they were significantly off. I will look into that.

On top of it, I have new insurance and have no idea how good they are about covering stuff. I would appreciate any tips on what to do to avoid getting huge lab bills! Should I clear everything with my insurance ahead of time? Is LabCorp good about estimating costs when you go in? Any other suggestions? I called my insurance last week. He told me I could fax it in. But, I have seen obscure references on the website to specific procedures for preapproval that might require a more specific procedure. Finding anything on the website is like looking for a pot of gold.

I would appreciate any tips on what has worked for you in the past. I don't want a $3k bill. Thanks in advance!!!

It all depends on what type of lab tests these are. If they are not lyme specific, they are usually covered if your insurance has standard lab coverage.

They cant be to special since they are for the two most commonly clinic-contracted labs in the US.

Its all about the coding. Tests need matching illness coding for ins to cover. There are numbers with illness descriptions in the Drs orders that should match up with the test names. It should only say lyme for the lyme tests. "Infection, Insomnia, myalgia,cardio, thyroid" stuff like for other things related to your condition is what it needs to be covered..

Call your insurance is the best bet.

I hassled are argued for a year one time........the result? it was finally covered.

I've been shocked at what labs charge! I'm fortunate in that while my insurance didn't cover my doc, it did cover my labs. Call the insurance and get the information from those that you want to pay for it. And be sure to ask how to make sure it gets processed properly so that they will pay for it! You may have to walk the labs through some things.

And don't forget that you can appeal any decision the insurance company makes!!!