Charged $227 to sign some papers

[u/todobirdo]

Hi everyone, I was wondering if this seems kind of extreme. I had to have a medical practitioner sign some paperwork to confirm that I've had my vaccinations and a TB test. So I called to make an appointment at the hospital I get my annual checks at to have them signed, assuming that it would just be something quick (maybe this is where I messed up). At the appointment, a nurse took my weight and blood pressure and left, and then the doctor came and I told him I just needed some papers signed. He took them and went back to his office and came back to tell me I needed to get a different type of TB test. He then sent me to get the test downstairs in the labwork area, and said he would sign the papers in the new few days and I could come back to pick them up.

That was a few weeks ago, and I just got a bill saying I was charged $252 for the TB test and $227 for the appointment (code 99213). Can I argue this, and who would I bring it up to?

[u/Woodman629]

Visits aren't free. This took the practitioners time to review your records, confirm them, review the paperwork they were signing, etc. Then they had to note that was all done.

A practitioner alone is not what you are paying for; you saw an MA, the team that checked you in and out, the EHR, turning the room, the billing team, the AR team, the people you called to schedule the appt with. All of those things cost money and time.

What do you want to argue? If the test was required for him to sign the forms, there was no choice.

Did you call them about picking up the signed paperwork?

[u/Woodman629 → u/[deleted]]

fixed. TY