Offered a cash price for a prenatal genetic test? It may be your best bet
Summary
A pregnant woman opted for a prenatal genetic blood test offered by the company Natera. She was given the option to pay a $349 cash price instead of using her insurance, which eventually charged her significantly more. This reflects a trend in the U.S. where paying out-of-pocket can sometimes be cheaper than using insurance.Key Facts
- Natera offers a prenatal genetic blood test to check for fetal abnormalities.
- Natera has a "prompt-pay cash price" option of $349 for their test.
- A woman was charged $750 due to her unmet insurance deductible despite the test results showing no concerns.
- Natera billed her insurance company $4,480, but the insurer paid only 45 cents.
- The woman found that other patients had similar experiences and that paying cash was sometimes cheaper.
- A federal rule from 2021 requires hospitals to publish prices, revealing that cash prices can be lower than insurance-negotiated ones.
- A study found that cash prices in many hospitals were lower than what insurance companies negotiated.
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