r/HealthcareReform_US

I was experiencing hair loss, so I went to the dermatologist to see if I had alopecia. She ordered blood tests do be done. I just started a new job and was in the probationary period, so I did not have health insurance. I would have waited, but she told me if it's an auto immune disease, I need to get the tests done asap to ensure my symptoms don't get worse.

Doc told me that for these blood tests, it's usually $300 total for uninsured patients. Today, I received an invoice for $3,314.55 and I'm in total panic. There's no way I can afford this, even with a payment plan, and I wouldn't have done the tests right away had I known it would be this high. The invoice has an itemized list of everything that was done with my blood sample. It especially sucks because I tested negative for everything, so the labs were basically completely unnecessary.

Can this be negotiated down? I don't know what to do. It's LabCorp and I'm in NYC if that matters. Thanks for your help.

ETA: to clarify, i did not know this was being done through LabCorp. they said they were going to send it to their lab and gave me an estimate, so i was under the belief that everything was facilitated by them since its a specialized practice (dermatology). thanks for the advice and shared experiences. i plan to call first thing tomorrow when they open.

This was my experience with this facility.

If you are considering placing a loved one in this facility, please do more research first. I would not recommend placing any loved ones in the care of this facility. Residents care quality always has fallen on deaf ears. The food department is horrifying. meals would come extremely cold. meals would also make residents and their staffing sick. Their employees have inappropriate relations. This establishment also likes to hire relatives everyone in some way is related. They hire employees that make residents feel uncomfortable. This facilities management team is unprofessional. The staffing makes Jokes about diseases, sicknesses, bodily injuries when residents are quarantined or in bad shape. Even though there are a few good employees that work hard and do a great job. It doesn't make up for how horrible this facility is. The workers here cause a lot of drama. They make their employees feel like they aren't enough. All of their departments slacks along with their employees having clicks in this facility which makes a lot of their employees feel disengaged with themselves and the facility. The pay is not enough to deal with all the problems that are going on behind closed doors. The facility had left other shifts out when it came to holidays or parties. They allow certain shifts to be late every day. Some staff sleep on the job. They have unprofessionalism when it comes to giving reports and negative feedback about one’s wrong doings. The Nurses and RAs are constantly on their cellular Devices every time I visit. The facility falls short on fixing flooring, railings, lights, ceiling Pannels, furniture, and television issues. The pay is very little to work in these conditions. These are the reasons why no one is willing to work at this facility. These issues are also the reasons behind them having to have agency more in this facility. So please I do not recommend placing loved ones here. I do not recommend being employed here. Hopefully this helps with anyone interested in this place….