UCLA HEALTH
UCLA charged me $90 for a portal message 🙃
I want to call out UCLA Health because this feels like the most ridiculous lack of transparency.
After my mammogram, I got a letter saying I have dense breast tissue, so I messaged my doctor asking whether I needed additional imaging, like an MRI. My doctor was out of the office, and the covering doctor said it was an option. I said I’d rather wait until my regular doctor was back and discuss it with him and at my next mammogram.
Then I get an $90 bill for the portal message.
Nobody warned me that asking a follow-up question about my mammogram would be considered a billable medical service. No pop-up, no warning, nothing.
If UCLA wants to charge patients for portal messages, fine—tell people BEFORE they hit send. Let me decide whether I want to pay $86 to ask my own doctor a question.
Charging people afterward without clearly disclosing it feels shady as hell. Honestly, it feels like stealing from patients through a billing loophole.
Has anyone else had this happen with UCLA? Or successfully gotten one of these charges removed?