Here are four insights:
1. Elizabeth Moreno was a student at Texas State University in San Marcos with debilitating back pain caused by a spinal abnormality. In 2015, she successfully underwent surgery in Houston and her surgeon prescribed the opioid painkiller hydrocodone.
2. In January 2016, Ms. Moreno was asked to leave a urine sample at a follow-up office visit. The next year, she received the bill from Houston-based Sunset Labs for a urine test that screened for drugs, including a charge of $1,700 to check for amphetamines, $425 to screen for the illegal hallucinogenic phencyclidine and $850 for two tests to ensure that her sample had not been tampered with, among other charges.
3. Ms. Moreno’s surgeon did not discuss why he ordered the test and why the sample was screened for so many substances.
4. Ms. Moreno’s insurer Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas refused to pay any part of the bill since the lab was out-of-network. If it had contributed, it would have covered $100.92, according to an explanation of benefits the insurance company sent to Ms. Moreno.
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