I went to Dr. Tanya Gonzales at Mount Sinai Medical Center OB/GYN, an in-network provider through my insurance, United Healthcare. I went to Dr. Gonzalez in January 2019 for a routine yearly wellness exam and pap smear, which is a free service through my insurance plan. She sent a pap smear as well as a vaginal swab for processing through LabCorp. I was not informed during my visit that the testing completed would be sent to an out-of-network lab facility, nor that it would be coded as a non-preventative service. Since I made an appointment for a wellness exam and routine pap smear, and at no point was informed that this would be coded otherwise, I was not able to provide informed consent, and therefore am not responsible for the before mentioned bills. Since this was a preventative screening, and should have been completely covered through my insurance, I called United Healthcare after receiving the bills, and they stated that the pap smear was sent to an out-of-network lab, and had it been sent to an in-network lab, that I would not owe anything. We did a 3-way call with United Healthcare and Florencia in Dr. Gonzales's office to discuss this. Florencia instructed me to send her a copy of my bills via fax so that she could attempt to resolve the issue. I faxed them to her and received confirmation of receipt. I called Florencia to inquire about the status of the bills, and she told me that she submitted a request for review to their LabCorp representative, and that I needed to wait 30-45 business days to hear back. I had received notices that my bills would soon be sent to a collection agency, so I obtained a 30-day bill extension from LabCorp. After waiting 30-45 business days, I called United Healthcare, as well as LabCorp to check on the status of the review, and both representatives stated that nothing had been resubmitted or had changed in any way, and that I still owed the original amount. I called Florencia again, and she again stated that she had sent the request to the LabCorp rep in March, and I that just needed to wait longer. I explained that I needed to resolve the issue ASAP, as my bill was going to collections. She stated that she was not able to get into contact with the LabCorp rep, but she would keep trying. I asked for the contact info for the rep, but Florencia said she could not give it to me. Since this time, I have called Florencia again three more times, and each time have been told that I need to just wait for the LabCorp rep. I did eventually get the name of the rep - Sonia - but not her contact info. I called today and I asked to speak with Dr. Gonzales's office manager, but was told that she was out on medical leave. I called Mount Sinai Medical Center and filed an official complaint with a patient representative. Since I have been attempting to resolve this issue since March and I have no faith that it will be resolved through the current avenues, I also submitted a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau today, June 25, 2019. All that being said, Dr. Gonzalez was very nice and professional, and if it were not for this billing issue, and the fact that her office staff is either unwilling or unable to resolve it, I would keep her as my gynecologist. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to spend this much time and effort fighting with the office every time I go for a wellness exam, and do not want my credit to be affected by unfair medical bills, so I will have to find another provider. read more