Erin McCarthy went to NYU Langone Health’s emergency room in Brooklyn March 2 with a fever, headaches and tightness in her chest. She had recently traveled to Italy, a region hit hard by the new coronavirus.
Though her aim was to be tested for COVID-19, after her six-hour visit, she left without getting tested. Her physicians said she did not meet requirements for the test because she was not immuno-compromised and is not eldery.
A few days later she received the $10,382 bill in the mail.
While Ms. McCarthy will only pay $75 out of pocket, and her insurance company will pay a negotiated rate less than that, she said it raises real concerns about how uninsured people will be able to pay for medical care if they suspect they have COVID-19.
“Imagine if I didn’t have insurance,” Ms. McCarthy told The City.
A spokesperson for NYU Lanfone told Business Insider that billing differs by patient, insurer and provider and that “the bill in question charged the insurer a fee, the insurer paid a negotiated percentage of that fee and the patient owed only a copay of $75.”
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