Went to Clinical Pathology Labs in New Braunfels 2 November 2011 to get standard blood test prior to yearly physical exam.
I have insurance and it has paid 100% of these tests in past years.
But when I received the CPS bill it was an astounding $1152.25 Bluecross rejected numerous charges on the CPS bill because they were so high.
The following are examples of what CPL charged me. (In parentheses are rates charged by other labs nearby):
lipid panel CPL PRICE: 90.75 ($15)
C-Reactive Protein (CRP):CPL PRICE: 72.25 ($12.50)
Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP): CPL PRICE: 78.25) ($12.50)
Folate (RBC Folate): CPL PRICE: 131.50 ($52.50)
High Sensitivity C Reactive Protein (hs-CRP): CPL PRICE: 72.25 ($40.00)
Thyroid Panel with TSH: CPL PRICE:110.00 ($20.00)
Urinalysis with Reflex to Culture/Sensitivity: CPL PRICE: $29.25 ($10.00)
Microalbumin:Creatinine Ratio, Random Urine Albumin:Creatinine Ratio: CPL PRICE:$138.50 ($49.00)
Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA): CPL PRICE: $118.75 ($49.00)
Hemoglobin A1C with eAG (A1C): CPL PRICE: $82.00 ($29.00)
Creatinine: CPL PRICE: $51.50 ($29.00)
Vitamin B12 B12, Cobalamin, True: CPL PRICE: $131.50 ($49.00)
AUTOMATED HEMOGRAM AKA Complete Blood CounT; CBC: CPL PRICE: $28.05 ($14.00)
CK-MB Panel Price: CPL PRICE: $60.75 ($30.00)
It can be seen that in some cases CPL has charged 6 times what other labs charge for the same test..
I emailed CPL's Austin billing office about this and on 27 Dec 2011 received a reply from Lisa Ford saying they would reduce the amount I owed after insurance paid by 20% if I paid through their website. I refused.
This is nothing less than egregious price gouging and it is an example of why medical costs are rising everywhere.
Since there have been numerous complaints to the Better Business Bureau about this kind of thing with CPL , I have little hope that CPL will recalculate its prices according to community acceptable rates. But it is always worth a try.
Note: after I posted this on Yelp, I sent a complaint against CPL to the Austin Better Business Bureau. They rejected it for no good reason. So I did some research on BBB and discovered they are, especially in Austin, a very biased private business primarily in the business of protecting businesses who pay them money to front for them. See my complaint on Yelp about the Better Business Bureau.
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