u/pinkheartedrobe-xs

I know it isn't a lot, I have great insurance thank God, but even $800 is so much to me. my last paycheck was around $700 because of lost wages, and I feel so stuck because I don't know how to go about this. like can you even do payment plans?

I also found out that I have another medical bill for about $600 that I thought was handled. Back in Oct. 2025 I went to a gynecologist they did a test, and the lab sent me a bill in January for $600. I called them about it and they said they put my insurance info in wrong and that they fixed it. A couple of days ago I got another bill from them and it looks like nothing changed. I'm not even on the insurance I was on when I got that test because I was on my mom's, now I have insurance through my job and there's no way they'd cover that bill.

I know at the end of the day it isn't a lot of medical debt in comparison to a lot of other people in the US, but I live in one of the most expensive counties in the US and it feels like my fiance and I are barely holding ourselves above water. if it weren't for the fact that I knew I would need the good insurance because of my disability we would have been in even more debt and I know I should be lucky, but I'm navigating my health issues blindly on $23/hour and am barely holding it together mentally. I had to tell the inpatient facility I was in that I couldn't stay for long because my job doesn't offer sick leave and I can't afford to be there, so now I'm out but still suffering mentally and trying to hold it together because this is my first full time job and it pays a lot better than some of the other retail jobs in the area.

I just feel stuck, I don't know what to do. I also have $1,500 on my credit card which again isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things, I just feel so overwhelmed as I just left the hospital two weeks ago and haven't fully recovered.

I was experiencing hair loss, so I went to the dermatologist to see if I had alopecia. She ordered blood tests do be done. I just started a new job and was in the probationary period, so I did not have health insurance. I would have waited, but she told me if it's an auto immune disease, I need to get the tests done asap to ensure my symptoms don't get worse.

Doc told me that for these blood tests, it's usually $300 total for uninsured patients. Today, I received an invoice for $3,314.55 and I'm in total panic. There's no way I can afford this, even with a payment plan, and I wouldn't have done the tests right away had I known it would be this high. The invoice has an itemized list of everything that was done with my blood sample. It especially sucks because I tested negative for everything, so the labs were basically completely unnecessary.

Can this be negotiated down? I don't know what to do. It's LabCorp and I'm in NYC if that matters. Thanks for your help.

ETA: to clarify, i did not know this was being done through LabCorp. they said they were going to send it to their lab and gave me an estimate, so i was under the belief that everything was facilitated by them since its a specialized practice (dermatology). thanks for the advice and shared experiences. i plan to call first thing tomorrow when they open.