CityMD unleashes wave of surprise bills for COVID-19 tests
Over the course of the pandemic, many New Yorkers and New Jerseyans flocked to the nearest CityMD to get a COVID-19 test whenever they started to feel sick or wanted to be safe before visiting family. But some of those who braved the long lines at the urgent care chain earlier in the pandemic are now getting billed hundreds of dollars for a service they thought would be free.
CityMD patients have taken to Twitter this summer to decry the recent charges, some of which are for tests that took place as far back as 2020. Some say they are specifically being billed for an “office visit” associated with a COVID-19 test, rather than the test itself.
It’s unclear how many people are affected by the charges, but CityMD has become ubiquitous in the New York City area, with more than 135 locations across the five boroughs and Long Island as well as in Westchester and Rockland counties and New Jersey.
One of those hit by the “office visit” charge was Paige Perry, an Astoria resident who said she received a $300 bill from CityMD last month.
“At first when I got the email, I was like, ‘Is this a scam?” Perry said. “I didn’t know for sure if it was actually from CityMD because I hadn’t been in forever.”
Upon closer examination, Perry saw that the bill was for a visit on Dec. 16, 2020, when she remembers getting tested before flying home to Texas to see her family for the holidays. An insurance statement Perry shared with Gothamist shows that CityMD first billed the $300 to her health plan, Independence Blue Cross, but the company declined to pay.
A separate insurance statement shows that Independence had already paid LabCorp $100 for a testing service on the same date. Independence did not respond to inquiries from Gothamist about why it didn’t also pay the office visit fee charged by CityMD.
Other private health care providers are now seeking payments from patients after failing to get the full amount they’re requesting from insurers. The Manhattan-based testing company Medbar, which set up shop in pharmacies and other locations during the pandemic, has also been hitting patients with belated charges for COVID-19 testing that it said the customers’ health plans refused to cover.
Since reporting on the charges in July, Gothamist has received more emails from people who say the company is still sending out bills for tests conducted months prior.
