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Bill 6 · Laboratory
Your doctor ordered a standard blood panel. One vial was drawn.
Which lines should you question?
Lab charges
Comprehensive metabolic panel$95
Glucose, blood$22
Sodium, blood$19
Blood draw$12
Correct!
Not quite.
A comprehensive metabolic panel is a bundle of 14 measurements that already includes glucose and sodium. Charging for the panel and then again for two of its parts is called unbundling. Insurers often catch it. Patients paying before the deductible is met may not. You do not need to know lab medicine to ask: “Are any of these tests already included in the panel?”