Hello, I have a few questions how to handle my PCP or Labcorp messing up with my insurance details. I had a bloodwork taken at my primary care and apparently they sent it to Labcorp. But Labcorp billed my insurance with the incorrect details apparently - my name and Member ID, group number are wrong. I got a mail in Feb asking for insurance details but the return address was not online on their website, so I thought it was phishing. I called the Billing department and asked them if they needed my insurance details, and they said "it is pending with insurance and there is nothing you have to do but wait". I don't have this call recorded. Today I got the invoice number and it says the below: "Reason for Bill: We attempted to file a claim with insurance. According to BLUES NJ: HORIZON BCBS, the patient name or subscriber number did not match their records. This balance is now the patient responsibility" I don't want this to impact my credit score but I don't want to pay $1000 since my PCP or they made mistake that I had nothing to do with. I will call them tomorrow morning but I have a few questions. 1. Since they dumped the responsibility on me, can I sort of force them to refile with insurance? What do I do if they refuse? 2. How long generally do I have to sort this out (not paying) so it doesn't impact me. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I'm just pretty pissed right now so apologies if I sound rude.

I'm 41 and live in New Jersey. I work for a non-profit and make around $35k per year. A few months ago, I saw my GP for a regular check-up and mentioned that, in my job, people often speak confidentially, whisper, or are just low talkers, and I sometimes have trouble understanding them when it seems like there is an expectation that I should not, which can get frustrating. I said that I have not had my hearing tested since I was in grade school like 25 years ago and asked whether that's something that should be checked from time to time. She said sure and wrote me a referral to get a hearing test. So I went to the website for my insurance (Horizon, aka Blue Cross Blue Shield) to search for providers and easily found an audiology office that's tier-1 in my network a few blocks away. I called them, explained that I hadn't had my hearing checked in decades and was looking for a regular test with my doctor's referral, and gave them my insurance information so they could verify that they're in my network. I went for the test, which didn't really tell me much, and later I received the finalized claim notification and was surprised to see that I owe $1,041.85. I argued with the billing department, and then I argued with the insurance company. There are two different issues here, I've been told. First, insurance explained that the medical coding was for a diagnostic hearing test rather than a routine (annual) hearing test. (Obviously, no one ever gave me an option for which type of test I wanted to receive.) An insurance representative talked to the billing department while I was on the phone and was unable to convince them to change their coding; they insisted that they had coded it correctly and that it would be illegal to change it. Insurance doesn't consider it preventive care if it's a diagnostic test, even though their Preventive Health Guidelines document mentions "Doctor will ask about hearing difficulties and refer for further diagnosis" under "Other Recommended Screenings/Tests." When I escalated and spoke with a different insurance representative, she figured out the other issue, which became the main focus: I was billed as a hospital outpatient, not as a visitor to a specialist office. She was not able to change that by working with the billing department and filed an appeal internally with the insurance company on my behalf. About a month later, just the other day, I received a denial of the appeal in the mail. I can still file my own appeal, but I'm not sure how to get a different result. In the meantime, my "payment is overdue," and I'm worried about it going to collections and affecting my credit. The billing department isn't doing anything to hold the timeline even though I've told them repeatedly that I'm arguing with insurance about the bill and had them note it on my file. If I gave the audiology office my insurance up-front, didn't they have an obligation to inform me that the service wouldn't be covered? If I found the provider through my insurance website as in-network, didn't they have an obligation to inform me that the office was considered hospital outpatient and not a specialist practitioner? I should note that I live right by a hospital in a major healthcare city, and many of the facilities throughout the city are under their umbrella. My GP's office is also part of the hospital system. Their name is on the door. I use the same patient portal for my doctor visits as I got this bill through. So why, when my GP is a regular office visit, would this audiology office bill me as a hospital outpatient? I've had health insurance for almost 17 years through my job but only recently started exercising it at all. It's absolutely insane to me that I can be billed an amount like this without anyone letting me know up front that I'm agreeing to pay for a costly service rather than just a co-pay. I'm dealing with some dental stuff right now that's not covered by my plan, and the dentist's office has been extremely clear and forthcoming about costs months in advance. In contrast, this hearing test bill feels like a scam. Does anyone have any recommendations for what I can do from here? Also, does the No Surprises Act help me with this at all?