Help for Uninsured Patients to Find Affordable Lab Testing
The Summit County (Ohio) Medical Society has developed an internet resource for uninsured patients it would like to share with physicians and patients across the country.
HelpWithMedicalCosts.com is an innovative program which was developed by Summit County physicians who found that some of their uninsured patients could not afford the lab work they needed, and it allows patients to order their blood tests over the internet at very low rates.
Because the program is internet-based, physicians throughout the United States can offer it to their patients. (This offer is not valid in New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island.) The blood work is done through LabCorp, which has 1,600 sites nationwide, and, by the patient entering their zip code during the ordering process they can locate their closest draw site.
The program works much like ordering anything online. The physician writes the order for the lab work. The patient (from any computer with internet access) visits HelpWithMedicalCosts.com, and clicks on “Help With Medical Costs” in the middle of the page. From there the patient selects the labs the doctor has ordered and pays with a credit or debit card. The patient prints out a requisition and takes it to their local LabCorp draw site. The next day, the results are faxed to the physician and emailed to the patient. Patients who have no access to the internet may call 800-903-3921 to participate in this service.
Prices for labs are very close to Medicare rates. Summit County physicians found that uninsured patients often were charged 10 times what Medicare or private insurers pay for the same test because insured patients pay negotiated rates, while uninsured patients pay full charge.
This program is also available for those who are also underinsured, have HSAs or very high deductibles.
The Summit County Medical Society realizes no income or profit from this service. It does believe that other physicians—and their uninsured patients—can benefit from this service.
For more information, go to HelpWithMedicalCosts.com, which is a part of the Summit County Medical Society’s website.
SUMMIT COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY ANNOUNCES AFFORDABLE BLOOD TESTS PEOPLE WITHOUT INSURANCE
Updated June 29, 2010
The Summit County Medical Society announces that Pioneer Physicians Network has agreed to perform blood tests for people without health insurance at rates much less than those charged by area hospitals and commercial laboratories.
Pioneer, a Greater Akron area physician network, will offer the tests at four of its sites. The charge for a basic metabolic panel, for example, one of the most commonly ordered blood tests, will be $14. An article in the Akron Beacon Journal earlier this year showed that people without insurance are charged from $22.60 to $175 for this test at area labs and hospitals
Patients without insurance typically pay full charges for blood tests. However, people with health insurance pay far less because their insurance companies negotiate deeply discounted rates from hospitals and commercial laboratories.
The high cost of lab tests for uninsured patients poses undue financial stress on uninsured people, and some of them simply forego the tests, said Doug Lefton, MD, a family physician in Fairlawn and special projects coordinator for the medical society. “It’s also a problem for doctors,” he said. “It’s hard to treat patients without the important information that blood tests provide.”
Mark Meyer, MD, president of Pioneer, said “This is a great way for us as an organization and as a group of physicians concerned about the plight of the uninsured, to give back to the community,”
Patients will be able to take any doctor’s lab order to one of Pioneer’s four draw sites. Patients must phone ahead to make an appointment for the blood draw, and will be expected to pay at time of service with cash, check or credit card. A $5 draw fee will also be charged.
Most blood and urine tests will be run at Pioneer’s own lab in Tallmadge. Specialized tests will be sent out to reference laboratories. Results for commonly ordered tests will be faxed to the patient’s doctor by the next day.
The four draw site locations are Pioneer’s central laboratory, 65 Community Rd,
Tallmadge, (330) 633-6601; Columbia Woods Medical Group 3300 Greenwich Rd, Norton, (330) 825-7371; Hearthstone Family Practice, 4444 S Arlington Rd, (330) 896-6111, and Pioneer’s South Main Street Medical Center at 4880 South Main St, Green (330) 644-2700.
More information, including directions to the three blood draw locations and a comprehensive list of available tests and prices is available on the Pioneer website at www.pioneerphysicians.com.
The announcement today followed a 4-month search by the medical society to find a lab that would offer prices at or close to what Medicare pays. Dr. Lefton said he had contacted all the local hospitals and commercial labs and that only Pioneer was willing to offer such low rates. “I give a lot of credit to Pioneer for stepping up to the plate on this,” he said.
He said the medical society invites other labs to offer low prices to uninsured people. If so, they will be added to the medical society’s webpage.
One of those resources the medical society notes on its webpage is the Hospital Care Assurance Program. This program, mandated by the state, requires all hospitals to offer free care—including free blood tests—to anyone whose family income is below federal poverty guidelines. The 2009 poverty level is $22,050 for a family of four. Summa hospitals, and LabCare Plus, the lab system owned by Summa, go farther than the requirements and offer free care to patients who earn up to 200 percent of the poverty level.
The Summit County Medical Society’s mission is to represent physicians in the community and to improve the health of the community. It has 400 physician members and is a part of the Ohio State Medical Society.
Pioneer Physicians Network is primary care network of 24 doctors in 9 locations throughout the Greater Akron area.
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