<prompt> Human: Ive been going to the same doctor for a couple of years. This last fall, my insurance company changed. Im in New Jersey, US.Went to the doctor got my usual bloodwork done. Gave them my new insurance card, etc. A month later I get a EOBexplanation of benefits from my insurance company saying they were not going to cover the labwork... hmm...seems odd, but EOBs dont make sense anyway, so I ignored it.A few weeks later, I got a bill for 700 dollars from LabCorp. My doctor had sent the bloodwork to LabCorp, an out-of-network lab my insurance only covers Quest. Previous to this, I had just gone to doctors, handed them my insurance card, and everything had magically worked out. Not anymore...This post is for the benefit of those that find themselves in a similar situation:From LabCorps point of view, they performed a service, and want to get paid.From my Doctors point of view, oops, they kind of messed up. But they dont really want to admit it or get in the middle of it. I guess it can be really confusing for them to keep track of all the requirements from the various insurance companies. And its not like its their money on the line. Their only financial interest is in keeping you as a customer which may mean a lot, or a little to them depending on their practice. Your doctors view may vary.From my Insurance Companys point of view, they very specifically state on their card and in their coverage plan that all labwork should go to Quest and Quest only, and not go to LabCorp, so they dont want to pay anything.From my point of view I ended up with a bill for 700 when I should have no bill at all. I didnt do anything wrong, and feel kind of frustrated.First thing I do: Call LabCorp. I learn that the 700 bill is their un-negotiated, no insurance rate. Essentially, if my insurance had covered the bill, Labcorp would only have charged them 150 or so. But because my insurance isnt covering it, they bill poor me some obscene amount700. By talking to their customer service rep, I talk them down to 500 on the spot. But I dont want to pay 500, so I hang up to try the other folks doctor and insurance. This takes me a week or two to get to, because yeah.In the meantime, I have an appointment with a specialist. Knowing that I just received a 700 bill, and knowing that Ill be getting bloodwork done, in preparation decide to write the name of the preferred labQuest on my right arm, right next to my vein. This is to remind me to tell them where to send the blood. I inform the both the doctors office staff, and the phlebotomist the skilled human that draws your blood that my labwork has to go to Quest. Im not obnoxious about it either, I promise.Guess where the labwork didnt go... to Quest. Instead they sent it some other companyAccurate Diagnostics. So Im back where I started except now I have a 700 bill from Labcorp and a new 2000 bill from Accurate Diagnostics. Ouch again. I had done everything in my power to avoid the 2000 bill. Its in no way my fault, I actively tried to prevent it, yet somehow Im still liable for it. I have a good emergency fund, but if I was on the edge, this would really hurt. I dont have any legal recourse anyway, I cant really prove I told the specialistdoctor where to the send the bloodwork.So I talk to the doctors offices nicely. The receptionist at the original 700 bill doctor made a photocopy of my bill from LabCorp, said shed call her rep at LabCorp to fix it. Ive since followed up every week or so, she says Dont worry about, Ill take care of it In the meantime, angry letters from LabCorp. The receptionist for the specialist 2000 bill does the same thing, promising to call her rep at Accurate Diagnostics...Not having much faith that anything will get done, I call my insurance company. I explain my situation, and end up filing a written appeal to their claim denial. I tell my tale of woe, and dont lie. I tell them I had no idea this was something I had to worry about, I tell them I had no choice in the matter, and I tell them how I actively asked my specialist to send the blood to Quest and they didnt. I wait three weeks, my appeal is... APPROVED! My insurance company steps and takes the hit for me. Yes!So at the end of the day, My first doctor kind of messed up, and didnt really do anything to fix it. Its all right, accidents happen. I followed up a bunch, but nothing really happened.My Specialist really messed up because they ignored my specific request to send the blood to Quest, and did nothing to fix the situation.LabCorp and Accurate Diagnostics are kind of jerks for billing the uninsured or insured, but liable absolutely obscene amounts of money several multiples of a fair, market price. They do this because they know they have you under the barrel. They already rendered the services and can charge you whatever they want. But that said, they did do a service and deserve to get paid. Just not what theyre billing for.My insurance company pays the full 700 bill to LabCorp. My insurance company talks Accurate Diagnostics down from 2000 to 1200 and pays them. My insurance company did nothing wrong here, but they took the hit for me. They also said this was a one-time exception and theyll never do it again for me. As a result, these tests cost them way more than it should have, which will either increase my premiums or decrease profits for shareholders, depending on how you see it.I end up spending about 15 hours of my life worrying about this directly and 3 months hoping Im not out 2700 for no reason, and about an hour writing up a big reddit post so that when someone Googles: My Doctor sent my blood test to an out of network lab, do I have any recourse? this will pop up.From now on, when I go to the doctor, Im going to ask for a prescription for my labwork, ie. Doctor, please write out what tests I need and Ill take care of it and then take a bus I dont have a car, and buses are a big pain for me to the Quest lab to get my blood drawn from them in person. This will be a big inconvenience, but will save me thousands of dollars and lots of stress.As an aside, there should be some patching up of the ACA to not hold patients responsible for this kind of thing. I could have been hit with a 2700 bill for the simple act of going to my doctors for preventative care. I know this is nothing compared to some of the drive-by, balance-billing stuff going on, or a cancer diagnosis, or surgery, or whatever, but still, 2700 for going to the doctor?  <response>: Thank you for airing this. I know my GP just changed on-site vampires, Ill have to double check. 