DAT Makes Cost of Lab Testing More Transparent for Consumers

Consumers are getting a better handle on the true cost of lab testing by logging on to the direct access testing (DAT) web sites. I have provided extensive coverage of DAT in this blog. It appears that some of this comparison shopping is being prompted by the co-pay bills for lab testing that are being presented to patients. This phenomenon is well illustrated by a recent blog note (see: The Scam of Healthcare - one way the consumer is getting beaten) that lays out the whole issue:

A while back, I asked my doctor for a male hormone panel blood test....When the bill from Quest Diagnostics arrived, I learned that, my insurance company was only allowing $196.95 of a bill for $832.70, leaving me with a balance due of $635.75. Thinking this was excessive, I did a little investigating....The Life Extension Foundation... sells directly to the public a similar test that is even more comprehensive for $299. That’s $336.75 less than my Co-payment.....This is a nice scam. I charge you an inflated price for a service, knowing full well that your insurance will only cover a portion and then hit you up for the rest.

I investigated the DAT offering from the Life Extension Foundation (see: Male Life Extension Panel). Below are the details of the test panel that is being offered on its web site accompanied by the price for members and non-members.

Male Life Extension Panel
This comprehensive panel is used to evaluate male health status. The following tests are included in this panel: Chemistry Panel, CBC, Free Testosterone, Total Testosterone, DHEA-s, PSA, Estradiol, Homocysteine, and Cardiac CRP.
Non-members: $400.00
Members: $299.00

I know nothing about the Life Extension Foundation but I would hazard a guess that the organization is functioning as a broker with regard to its DAT program. It is thus probably using one of the major national reference labs to both draw the blood sample and perform the tests. I would also hazard a guess the the Life Extension Service has a good profit margin built into the prices quoted above even though their test panel is more comprehensive and less expensive than the test that the patient above received through his physician. It would be obvious what national reference lab was performing the DAT testing for the Life Extension Foundation based on the patient service center to which the consumer is directed for the blood draw if a test panel is ordered from them.

As readers of this blog may recall, the business model for lab testing in Brazil is for the physician to write a lab test order that the patient then takes to the clinical lab of his choice. The patient receives the test results from the lab and takes them back to the physician for analysis. I am wondering if a similar model might take hold in the U.S. as the size of lab co-pays increase, encouraging patients to seek lower priced lab testing using DAT sites on the web. Of course, if such a trend takes hold, the reference labs would probably cease providing back-end lab services to the broker DAT sites because such work would cannibalize their higher-margin physician office business.

Comments

[pisst off]

Quest Diagnostics is a rip off scam. Do not go there. Trust me, they will take your insurance but then you will get a $251 bill. When you call them they tell you oh we offer a payment plan.