Hi there! I don't know if this will help but here is the background. I'm a graduate student in California and I usually go to the student health center at my university for all my medical needs, including Pap smears. Last year I had my Pap smears in May at the student health center, and at the end of summer I got a call from a nurse who wanted to refer me to the university hospital for a follow up (due to my age and abnormal Pap results in the past) because my doctor at the student health center was on vacation. Eventually in November I went to get my test done at the hospital. The obgyn wasn't happy with the minimal and messy medical history that got faxed to her and she had no access to my record, so she did the Pap and colposcopy with biopsy. I also got a pregnancy test done as per protocol. Before I left I asked if I needed to pay, and I was told no.
In January I received two separate bills. The first bill was about $40, so I just paid with my credit card. Then a second bill came and this time it was $450. Being a poor grad student, panic struck immediately. I went to check my insurance and found that I had three claims filed: one from my obgyn, one from the pathologist, and the third from the hospital. The $40 that I paid covered the first two claims. I called the hospital to obtain the itemized bill, but I only got a single bill that covers only the items listed in the third claim. I took a good look and found that the billing code 88305 was used in the second claim (it was listed in the EOB). The same code was used in the itemized bill, but the hospital charged me three units of 88305, $318.35 per unit which totals $955.05. I googled 88305 and it stands for "gross and microscopic examination of a specimen."
I called the hospital again and asked the billing department for a review. Two weeks later they mailed the same bill to me. I guess that means they found no error in the bill. I'm responsible to pay the amount after discount ($429.91) for this particular item. $450 is the amount after adding the pregnancy test, which is also my deductible.
I checked my insurance document and it says preventive services are covered 100% and deductible doesn't apply to these services. What is my next step? Call the insurance? I'm sorry if this is too long, and I greatly appreciate any pointers as I'm losing sleep. $450 is a lot to me...
Submitted May 03, 2017 at 03:56AM by cautiouslyminimalist http://ift.tt/2qDoJMr
