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Blood test program for uninsured to end

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted March 7, 2011

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A program that provides low-cost blood tests to uninsured patients is ending after one of its partners lost its contract with a major laboratory company.

Nationally, the program is a partnership between the Summit County Medical Society in Akron, Ohio, and PrePaid Lab LLC, an online marketer of lab tests based in Avon Lake, Ohio. It allows people to preorder and pay for discounted blood tests at nearby labs over the Internet.

But national access will end soon after Laboratory Corp. of America notified PrePaid Lab on Jan. 12 that it was ending its contract, says a medical society statement.

"We were stunned by LabCorp's withdrawal. Our program was just starting to catch on," said Doug Lefton, MD, a family physician in Fairlawn, Ohio. Dr. Lefton, who worked at American Medical News from 1981 to 1987, led efforts to launch the program. LabCorp officials did not respond to requests for comment.

The program still will offer low-cost blood tests to uninsured patients in the Akron area through the medical society's partnership with physician group Pioneer Physicians Network.

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/03/07/prbf0307.htm.

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