Are clinics cashing in on COVID-19 testing with upfront fees? winknews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from winknews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Young women paying to get breast cancer tests
Published: April 28, 2021 4:37 PM EDT
Updated: April 29, 2021 11:07 AM EDT
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A breast cancer diagnosis is scary, and the test to find out if you have it could cost you thousands, even with health insurance. That has a lot of women skipping their screenings.
Women are told to have mammograms annually, but only if you’re over 50. Still, breast cancer concerns exist for everyone.
Dr. Tasleem Padamsee, faculty affiliate at The Ohio State University’s James Comprehensive Cancer Center, hears story after story.
“I remember a particular woman telling me the story of her care provider telling her, ‘Well, really you should be getting these MRI, but I don’t know if you want to do that, because it’s really expensive.’ And she said, ‘Well, will my insurance cover it? ”
Going for a COVID test cost woman $1,200
Published: April 15, 2021 6:27 PM EDT
Updated: April 15, 2021 6:38 PM EDT
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In March 2020, before the world completely changed, Sandy Germain and her husband Joe were at Daytona Bike Week. When they started coming down with cold and flu symptoms, the COVID-19 virus had started to spread in Florida.
They returned home to Naples, and at the advice of their physician, went to the closest hospital to get a COVID test.
“At any other point in history, we would not have gone to the hospital with cold symptoms,” said Sandy Germain, a retired teacher.
When they arrived at Physician’s Regional Medical Center’s south Collier County location, they weren’t actually given a COVID test. The Germains explained that they were swabbed for the flu virus and sent inside for chest X-rays. They claim a physician told them there weren’t enough testing supplies for people with less severe symptoms such as theirs.
Experts say at-home testing a way to save money winknews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from winknews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Insurance companies cover preventative care as an incentive for you to stay on top of your health; however, there is fine print for these so-called free exams and procedures with health care providers.
A viewer from Fort Myers contacted WINK News’ Cost of Care after getting an unexpected $240 bill at what was supposed to be her well care visit, covered by Medicare.
“I said, ‘It was my first well care with Medicare, and I thought it was all taken care of? ” said Linda Baltes. “And (Lee Health) went on to say, ‘Due to some conversations I had with somebody, parts of that were not covered.’”