When I got the mail today, a strange envelope caught my eye. Totally nondescript window envelope, with a crooked, rubber-stamped, P.O. Box return address. I'd ave thrown it away, but what I could see through the envelope looked like a bill.

It's a statement from "Magnolia Diagnostics" for tests performed last December. The total is almost $1,800. Absurd, I think. Then I look at the small print, and it says, "Regardless of your EOB the balance due will be $30 if paid within 20 days of receipt." No one is going to take $30 for a $1,800 bill, so I figure this has got to be a scam.

I checked with my wife, and she had taken our son in around the time of the supposed testing, so I checked our EOBs online, and sure enough there's one for that date, and it shows no payment by insurance, but reductions of the fees to about $600. My son went in because he had a cough and sore throat. My wife said they did a swab for strep and were going to test for whooping cough because it was going around. So this may have been that test. But no one said anything to her about there being additional charges and certainly not $1,800 worth. Nevertheless, I still think no one's going to take $30 for even a $600 bill. Further suspicion is raised by the fact that a Google search for the return address pulls up a number of providers at the same P.O. Box, but not Magnolia Diagnostics.

I will check with the doctor and the insurance company tomorrow for more info. I will be very surprised and dismayed if the doctor ordered $1,800 worth of tests for a simple office visit with no warning, if that's what happened. But it still wouldn't make sense for insurance not to cover it at all and the provider would allegedly take pennies on the dollar just to get paid something, unless they know that they'll never be able to collect when push comes to shove. At this point, I have no intention of paying for this, since we did not request it, and have no agreement to pay the testing company. Maybe they've encountered that too many times, and the scary statement is just their scammy way of getting people to pay $30.

Has anyone encountered something like this before?

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Has anyone encountered something like this before?

Yep. First step is calling the doctors office and inquiring from there. I would not pay anything before speaking with doctor'billing office. Probably not a scam. Every EOB from insurance company has a number to call if you suspect Fraud. Call the doc first.

I had a basic urinalysis recently, and the lab charged over 7K worth of tests leaving me an alleged $450 copay. The MD's office was aware as other patients had been scammed this way as well and handled it.

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Originally posted by tigereye313:
I had a basic urinalysis recently, and the lab charged over 7K worth of tests leaving me an alleged $450 copay. The MD's office was aware as other patients had been scammed this way as well and handled it.

Doctor's office will be the first call. I forgot to mention that the invoice attempts to discourage calling the doctor's office and says to call them directly.

what happened??? Problem resolved? Thanks

Call your insurance company. They should be able to tell you any payments made for services and any amount you would owe the providers.
All my recent insurers have online information for my account so I could see what I was billed for, how much they did or didn't pay, and what I owe myself.

What the EOB states should be the final word. Unless the doc rebilled or you yourself called. I'd be leery on any invoice that says to disregard your EOB.

Call your insurance company; if you don't owe anything they will call the billing service and straighten them right out.