Patients of COVID-19[feminine[feminine Testing company CareCube is suing the medical clinic, alleging that it illegally billed them for tests and services they said they never received.
In a class action lawsuit, suitors Sabine Schumacher and Linda Cunningham accuse CareCube, which has several locations in New York City, of taking advantage of the pandemic “with an illegal surcharge on New Yorkers for COVID-19 testing.” CareCube falsely announced that the evidence would be covered by its insurers as required by federal law, according to the complaint.
“They operated on the general background that people have had for the last two years that COVID evidence is provided free of charge,” lawyer Ethan Roman of the law firm Wittels McInturff Palikovic, who represents CBS MoneyWatch, told and Schumacher and Cunningham.
“The brazen spirit of CareCube has allowed the emerging medical provider to expand from a single location in Brooklyn three years ago to 20 locations across the city, but this growth has come at the expense of tens of thousands of New York consumers who have been collectively defrauded by paying millions of dollars for COVID-19 tests, “the lawsuit said.
CareCube has not responded to the lawsuit; did not respond to a request for comment.
“Millions” in illicit profits
Plaintiffs’ attorneys illegally accuse CareCube of a two-way scheme benefits of the global health crisis caused by COVID-19. First, the clinic surprised consumers with surprise bills for fake doctor visits and consultations that never occurred, the lawsuit alleges. Second, he told patients that they would be reimbursed for the initial costs of the tests. “
That never happened, “Roman said.” People found out that their insurers were charging. and they were billed. “
Schumacher and Cunningham, who are domestic couples, allege that they were billed $ 225 each for a COVID-19 test result needed to travel. At the time, CareCube allegedly told the couple that they could not reach their insurers, but that they would reimburse them.
“Both my partner and I needed COVID testing right away to travel. CareCube took advantage of this to cheat us with $ 450,” Cunningham said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch. “It’s sad that companies like CareCube are exploiting people during a global pandemic just to make money fast, especially in a hard-hit area like New York City.”
They are suing to recover the damages and to force CareCube to pour millions of dollars in revenue that is estimated to have been “unfairly taken by New York consumers,” said attorney Burkett McInturff.
COVID-19 test market ripe for fraud
McInturff added that the test market for COVID-19 has been since then full of scams The virus first took over, and criminals took advantage of the complexity of medical billing practices to take advantage of consumers.
“Whenever markets are surrounded by opacity, it makes it easier for bad players to take advantage of consumers. It’s very easy for companies like CareCube that want to take advantage of people to do that,” he said.
CareCube has already been investigated for allegedly illegally billing patients. In early January, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced an investigation into how the company charges customers for both fast and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) COVID-19 tests.
“CareCube and all COVID-19 testing providers have a responsibility to be accurate and transparent in their billing process,” James said in the announcement. He also encouraged New Yorkers who believe CareCube has overcharged them to file a complaint with their office.
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