Bay Area urgent care patients billed up to $900 each after receiving free COVID tests
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Bay Area residents say they're getting billed hundreds of dollars from a Newark urgent care that was supposedly giving out free COVID tests during the height of the pandemic. The company says they're billing patients because the insurance companies didn't fully reimburse the urgent care. Now, the Alameda County District Attorney's office has stepped in.
The owner of AFC Urgent Care in Newark says the company filed for bankruptcy after more than $30 million in unpaid claims were denied. More than four years after the COVID tests were given, the company started billing patients and threatening to take them to small claims court if they didn't pay.
In November of 2020, John Schiefer says he took his family to AFC Urgent Care of Newark to be swabbed for COVID; tests he says the urgent care advertised as free.
He didn't think much of it until four years later when the bills started coming.
Schiefer didn't mind paying for the COVID swabs, but didn't understand why he was also being charged for seeing a doctor.
"We didn't see anyone who appeared to be a physician or ask us any questions about our health or symptoms," said Schiefer.
"We simply stood in line, filled out a form and got swabbed, and left," he continued.
Schiefer wasn't alone.
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Fremont residents Joshua Zenzen and Van Le also started getting bills years after their free swabs.
"Six-hundred dollars is a pretty hefty fee for doing a nose swab and sending it out for a sample," said ZenZen.
"Nine-hundred dollars for a Q-Tip test - that's ridiculous," said Le.
"I feel like it's a scam," she continued.
San Jose resident Kenneth Ju wondered the same.
"I just thought something was a bit off," said Ju.
He retained an attorney and started a Facebook page for Bay Area residents who say they were impacted.
"This is becoming a wide spread issue, there's hundreds of people going through what I'm going through. I just think it's unjust, I think it's unethical," Ju continued.
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Ju hired attorney Christian Schreiber.
"There were a lot of people who rushed in during the COVID era to try to make money and I think this is a situation where a doctor did exactly that tried to get money from insurers, failed and now he's turned around and he's trying to get money from his patients," said Schreiber.
"I've always been service oriented, not money oriented. I have never worked for money in my life," said Dr. Parmjit Singh, owner AFC Urgent Care.
Singh says he's been receiving anonymous threats.
"Watch your back. You will be shot," said Singh.
Singh says he reported the threats to police but couldn't file a police report because he didn't have an exact name of who was threatening him.
A spokesperson with Newark Police Department said the department has no record of Dr. Singh attempting to file a police report or for calls for service at AFC Urgent Care.
On its website and in billing letters, AFC Urgent Care of Newark told patients if they didn't pay, they could face action in small claims court.
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"Beyond this, I'm not sure what else we can do," said AFC Urgent Care of Newark attorney, Michael Gabriel.
Gabriel says the company tried to sue insurance companies for the lack of reimbursements, but didn't have the legal standing to do so under the CARES Act.
"Congress in it's infinite wisdom and writing acts, didn't say who could sue to enforce the act, only that the insurance companies had to pay," said Gabriel.
In a recording of a proceeding in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals between Saloojas Inc, which was "Doing Business As" AFC Urgent Care and Aetna, with Gabriel representing Saloojas, he said, "I never thought there was an issue over being able to sue to enforce the payment."
Attorney Emily Costin represented Aetna and said, "Essentially what the appellant is asking the court to do is to read into the statute something that Congress did not write into the statute."
"And the court found that we couldn't sue to get it," said Gabriel.
Gabriel says the company is out more than $30 million in unpaid claims.
"It's crazy, I mean we submit a bill and we don't know if we're going to get anything, something or get nothing," said Gabriel.
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None of the major insurance companies responded to our requests for a statement.
On its website, Saloojas Inc previously wrote, "We cannot sue the insurance companies directly for enforcement of the CARES ACT, only you the patient can sue Insurance company for breach of contract, when the insurance company does not pay the bill."
The content on the website has since been taken down and replaced by the words, "Coming soon."
"I should be getting rewards and awards for being a selfless person. But instead, I'm being hunted by patients who don't understand when they needed a service at 2 o'clock in the morning, they came here and touched my feet, sir, thank you for being open and today the same patients say, why should we pay your bill?" said Singh.
"That's not how the law works. You can't go after the patients because you didn't get the money from the insurance company," said Schreiber.
"This is just a fantasy world in which he plays the hero in his own mind," he continued.
Last week, an Alameda County judge issued a temporary restraining order against Saloojas Inc and Dr. Singh precluding them from attempting to collect money from patients for the advertised free COVID tests until they can appear in court to make their case in March.
Schreiber, who represents patient Kenneth Ju, says as a result of the Alameda County DA's office request for a temporary restraining order, they decided not to file a lawsuit.
Since AFC Urgent Care of Newark filed for bankruptcy, he also said it was unlikely he'd be able to obtain refunds for those patients who already paid their collection notices.
Bottom line, if you have received a collection notice from Saloojas Inc or AFC Urgent Care of Newark threatening to take you to small claims court, according to the temporary restraining order, you can hold off on paying that notice for now. By phone, 7 On Your Side Investigates spoke with another attorney who is also representing AFC Urgent Care of Newark who said he is trying to work something out with the Alameda County DA's office. Also that the business had already stopped sending out those bills and collection notices, but some people have already paid them.
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