pap asked 8 years ago
I just had a routine women’s health exam/pap smear and my insurance paid for everything except the lab test for the pap. So I got a bill from my gynecologist for about $35. Aren’t insurance companies required to pay for pap lab testing? I thought routine annual checkups were supposed to be “free” under the ACA/Obamacare? There was nothing unusual about my exam and the lab test was routine.
admin Staff answered 8 years ago
Yes – pap smears and their related lab tests are covered. To verify, we contacted United Health, one of the largest US health insurance companies. They told us that screening tests for cervical cancer and their lab tests are required to be covered by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
If you were charged for a lab test, your provider may not have submitted the claim properly to your insurance company. Contact your doctor’s office and ask them to double-check that they coded the test properly. If they say it is coded properly, contact your insurance company and ask why the lab test was not paid. They can then send the claim back to your doctor’s office with an error and ask them to correct and resubmit it for payment.
For more information on preventative care benefits for women under the ACA visit: https://www.healthcare.gov/preventive-care-women/