SUMMIT COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY ANNOUNCES AFFORDABLE BLOOD TESTS FOR PEOPLE WITHOUT INSURANCE
March 01, 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 three 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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