Researchers examined 2018 insurance claims data from more than 12 million insured Americans, finding 30 percent of them had received at least one out-of-network medical bill.
Insured Americans were five times more likely to receive out-of-network bills for lab services than for emergency department visits. Out-of-network bills for lab services were also 34 times more common than out-of-network bills for anesthesiology services.
The study found that out-of-network lab services cost an average of $24.59 more than in-network lab services. It also found that patients who were billed for an out-of-network lab had about twice as many services as patients who were billed for an in-network lab.
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