GS Labs settlement provides $1M in restitution for Washingtonians regarding COVID-19 testing

Washingtonians will receive nearly $1 million in restitution through a bipartisan multistate settlement with GS Labs resolving claims that the company, which ran COVID-19 testing sites, overcharged patients and failed to deliver timely test results.

The 18-state coalition, co-led by Washington, investigated a number of problems with GS Labs’ nationwide testing practices from 2020 through 2022, including that: 

• GS Labs intentionally advertised inflated “cash prices” for COVID-19 tests, sometimes as high as $380 per test or nearly $1,000 for multi-panel tests, that were used to justify overcharging patients with insurance coverage. And while GS Labs offered a “discount” from these “cash prices” to actual cash-paying patients, almost 30,000 patients still paid much more than market rate for their COVID-19 tests.
• For hundreds of thousands of patients, GS Labs guaranteed test results within three days and failed to deliver on its promise, sometimes taking a week or longer to get test results to patients.
• Despite advertising that patients with insurance would have no out-of-pocket costs, the company charged administrative fees as high as $49 per test to about 70,000 patients.

“During the height of the pandemic, GS Labs unfairly profited off of Washingtonians just trying to get tested for COVID-19,” Attorney General Nick Brown said.

“This is another great example of how our office vigorously enforces Washington’s consumer protection laws to protect people from deceptive business practices.”

Under the terms of today’s settlement, GS Labs will pay a total of $3.6 million in restitution to patients in the 18 plaintiff states. That includes $1.8 million for cash-paying patients who were overcharged for tests, $1.75 million for patients who were charged administrative fees, and about $34,000 for cash-paying patients who did not receive test results within three days.

In Washington, more than $987,000 will be available to compensate state residents who were harmed by the company’s testing practices. More than 11,000 people in Washington are expected to qualify for restitution, in amounts ranging from $5 for people who were improperly charged administrative fees to $200 for people who paid for a COVID test out of pocket.

Eligibility

The settlement creates an online restitution mechanism that will be funded and administered by GS Labs, with oversight by the multistate coalition. Eligible consumers include out-of-pocket paying consumers who paid more than the market rate for testing, consumers who paid for test results that were not delivered within the advertised turn-around time, and consumers who paid administrative fees to GS Labs.

To determine one’s eligibility and, if applicable, to receive a restitution payment, consumers must complete a brief verification process, which is available here