BioReference Laboratories Inc., an OPKO Health Company (NASDAQ: OPK), today announced that they will offer flexible payment arrangements for federal employees affected by the government shutdown.
“We recognize the challenging financial position that federal government employees have faced throughout the shutdown,” said Jon R. Cohen, M.D., Executive Chairman of BioReference Laboratories. “While the government is expected to temporarily reopen until February 15th, we’re providing laboratory bill relief to impacted employees, continuing our long standing commitment to patients, caregivers and communities.”
BioReference and its divisions, GenPath Diagnostics and GeneDx, developed a program to defer laboratory payments for 30 days to furloughed federal government employees. Impacted patients and caregivers should contact BioReference Laboratories billing customer service at 1-800-229-5227 (Option 2) and identify themselves as a ‘federal worker affected by the government shutdown’ to discuss payment options.
In addition, BioReference offers programs for eligible patients who need financial assistance as well as those who do not have or elect not to use their insurance.
“Healthcare should not be compromised during times of financial hardship,” said Geoff Monk, President of BioReference Laboratories. “By supporting patients and families, BioReference is empowering individuals to take control of their healthcare needs.”
About BioReference Laboratories, Inc.BioReference Laboratories is the nation’s third largest clinical laboratory, offering a comprehensive array of laboratory testing services to be utilized by physicians, clinics, and hospitals in the detection, diagnosis, evaluation, monitoring and treatment of disease. The company operates a network of 11 laboratory locations across the U.S., nearly 200 Patient Service Centers and a courier dispatch service to manage specimen pickup. BioReference provides state-of-the-art connectivity solutions including the ability to interface with all electronic medical records (EMRs), and data analytics to help improve office efficiency. For more information, visit www.bioreference.com.
About OPKO Health, Inc.OPKO Health is a diversified healthcare company. In diagnostics, its BioReference Laboratories is the nation’s third largest clinical laboratory; GeneDx is a rapidly growing genetic testing business; the 4Kscore® prostate cancer test is used to confirm an elevated PSAto help decide about next steps such as prostate biopsy; Claros® 1 is a point-of-care diagnostics platform with PSA and testosterone as the most advanced in development. In our pharmaceutical pipeline, RAYALDEE is our first pharmaceutical product to be marketed. OPK88003, a once-weekly oxyntomodulin for type 2 diabetes and obesity in Phase 2 clinical trials, is among a new class of GLP-1 – glucagon receptor dual agonists. OPK88004, a SARM (selective androgen receptor modulator) for treating various urology conditions, is in clinical trials. The Company’s most advanced product utilizing its CTP technology, a once-weekly human growth hormone for injection, is in Phase 3 trials, and is partnered with Pfizer. OPKO also has research, development, production and distribution facilities abroad. More information is available at www.opko.com.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains “forward-looking statements,” as that term is defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA), which statements may be identified by words such as “expects,” “plans,” “projects,” “will,” “may,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “should,” “intends,” “estimates,” and other words of similar meaning, including statements about expectations for BioReference, as well as other non-historical statements about our expectations, beliefs or intentions. Many factors could cause our actual activities or results to differ materially from the activities and results anticipated in forward-looking statements. These factors include those described in our Annual Reports on Form 10-K filed and to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements may also be adversely affected by general market factors, competitive product development, product availability, federal and state regulations and legislation, the regulatory process for new products and indications, manufacturing issues that may arise, patent positions and litigation, among other factors. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date the statements were made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements. We intend that all forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor provisions of the PSLRA.
Attachments
Natalie Cummins BioReference Laboratories 800-229-5227 media@bioreference.com
