I went to my OBGYN for a consult for a hysterectomy. She asked me a bunch of
questions, and then asked me if I had bladder leakage when I laughed, sneezed or
coughed. When I said yes, she then said she had a test she wanted me to have. It
was called LoMax. She said it's simple and will only take about half an hour. All they
did was insert a cathiter into my bladder, fill my bladder with water and see at what
point I leak fluid. I expected to pay a couple hundred dollars for the visit. Imagine
my suprise when they handed me a bill for 1700.00.The doctor had the nerve to charge me 140.00 just to tell me the results! I am so upset! Never once did they tell me it was going to be this expensive. When I questioned them on not warning me they said they were looking into letting paitients know before hand. They have had a few other very upset
patients. Is this legal? Or just unethical? Do I have to pay this bill? I am sick to my stomache about this. I will end up owing about 700.00

LearningAsIGo

I have some experience with this, working in a medical office. Legally, there are guidelines to billing certain medical expenses. They are "capped" so that a doctor cannot charge anything they'd like... though nothing is stopping them from charging the max amount.

Part of this also has to do with your insurance and how well you are covered. In the future, if time allows before a doctors order, I would recommend calling your insurance company to ask if certain procedures are covered and by how much.

The bill does seem a little high to me, but I'm unfamiliar with the exact procedure. Call the doctors office and request an explaination... play "dumb" and tell them it sounds like an overcharge. You could also address a letter to their billing department, gently explaining the reasons of your concern.
Honestly, use honey instead of vinegar ... working for a specialist, we get letters from patients... sometimes we'll lower the bill but the nice get further than the rude people.
Good Luck!

ScottGem

I'm not sure of the ethics, but it is certainly legal. I'm wondering where your insurance is on all this. Most insurance companies require pre-cert of any major tests. While the expense should haave been explained to you, why didn't you ask? If you weren't sure what your insurance would cover, you should have asked.