The practice is known as “balance billing,” and it’s been around for years. Forty-seven states ban in-network providers from billing insured patients beyond co-payments or co-insurance required by the plan, BusinessWeek says. And federal law prohibits balance billing for Medicare patients.
But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. An insurer recently sued a New Jersey medical practice for billing more than 8,000 patients between 2004 and 2006 for a total of $4.3 million. A judge ordered the practice to stop balance billing, and give refunds to patients. Quest Diagnostics, the country’s largest lab chain, has been investigated for balance billing,
Source:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_36/b4098040915634.htm