Background: I was in high school (public) and our school just got back from quarantine, and had everybody to take a mandatory covid test every week. Our teachers rounded us up and these people swabbed and tested us. We didn’t sign anything, we didn’t ask for this, we were just told to line up and do it.
Now that was last school year, just this week I received a bill from MEDLAB2020 sent to my home with my full name and my insurance information telling me to pay $3700 for that year of weekly COVID tests. Now, I thought this was free, being in a public school and not having signed or agreeing to anything. So I guess I’ll just call the school up the following Monday or something because I’m not paying this.
I did find a post with pretty much the same situation https://www.reddit.com/r/COVID19positive/comments/10alt16/received_a_billing_email_from_medlab2020/
Edit: I previously made a post in c/california but wanted to post here to see if I would get more traction. Yes, I live in the US of A if it wasn’t obvious.
Pro Tip: Whoever MedLab2020 is will need just one student to pay to make the whole thing profitable. However, the whole thing is illegal and I’m sure a lawyer would love to build a class action if the company has money to go after.
TL;DR: Don’t pay this. Let them go to collections then dispute the collection with all three bureaus. When you dispute, they need to document the debt, for which, there is no documentation / agreement you’ve entered into.
The thing is, it looks pretty legit. All the days that are charged in the bill were the days that we got tested. They’ve got the bill properly done and includes my full name and insurance so it seems believable. So I there’s two ways I can see what this is: 1) It’s legitmate and maybe there are payment disputes 2) It’s a scam, which means somebody got all this info from a data breach and made everything look nice and is targeting me.
I don’t know how to go about this to get this issue resolved though. Since this all originated from the school, I’m gonna see if I can get in touch with them and see if they have any clue what this is.
But did you sign anything agreeing to this debt?
As a minor, I thought they couldn’t enter in agreements/contracts like that?
Sounds like somebody got a copy of the test records and they be scammin’
Yeah, no.
First of all, you can’t enter into a contract as a minor when the terms are unfavorable and unfair…
You could also argue that you were forced into it under duress.
Finally, contract requires offer and acceptance. You were told to with no option to reject.
I would ask back where you agreeded, and you would like to engage a lawyer. See how they respond.
I was going to get in touch with a lawyer first but my mom told me to contact the school first. So if I can get it settled with the school then it will be less painful to deal with.
Talk to the school. It is probably a scam and the school should make an announcement before someone falls for it
What year was it done? Up until recently it was federally required for all insurance to cover COVID tests, including rapid tests with NO copay.
In California insurance is still required to cover all COVID testing with no copay. But this doesn’t apply if it is a private plan through your job for example.
Back in 2021 I had a urgent care clinic pull this shit, fighting to get me to pay $300 for a test and refusing me to give an itemized bill. That did not end well for them after I called my insurance and told them about that. Ended up paying them $0 and my insurance paid them like $7 cause it was a rapid test. I had anthem back when that happened.
What are other people in your school saying about it?
It’s likely a fishing expedition, seeing who will pay
I contacted a couple of my friends and they said they haven’t received anything. The only info I have is from that Reddit thread I found while researching these charges
Could be a scam. Send a semi-believable bill to all students you can look up for something you know they all received in school. Wait for the gullible ones to pay. The non-gullible ones direct their rage at the school and not you. Collect whatever money you can and disappear.