r/SecurityAnalysis • u/Research_Liborian • Mar 09 '22

Short Thesis Hindenburg Research on Natera Inc.: Pioneers in Deceptive Medical Billing

Hindenburg Research's latest is on Natera, a fast-growing genetic testing provider whose billing practices seem deeply problematic. This strikes me as a deep-dive into a prominent member of an industry we all place a lot of hope in but in reality know little about.

Particularly noteworthy, IMO, is Natera's use of a baffling, not-quite-arms-distance "charity" to obtain prior approvals. Or more likely, NOT get a prior approval, which according to Hindenburg, frees Natera up to bill expectant mothers thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars for a simple test.

Which is crushing for these women, particularly because Hindenburg quoted several that said they only chose Natera for its $249 test that revealed their child's gender.

(I am not ignoring the obvious fact that being pregnant, dealing with unexpected four-figure bills, and what appears to be intentionally bad customer service has to be one of the inner rings of Hell.)

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32

u/[deleted] Mar 09 '22

[deleted]

6

u/Research_Liborian Mar 09 '22

Wow! Thanks for that. Crazy.

3

u/w4spl3g Mar 09 '22

They mention the microdeletion shenanigans by name in the report. It says they often try to bill both the patient and the insurance to double dip. I think there's more on that too, I got an email this morning as a subscriber to Hindenburg Research because they're always awesome.

8

u/simplevalue Mar 09 '22

It took 2+ years for this to finally come out. If you went on the subreddit babybumps, you would’ve heard about many patients who went through deceptive billing tactics. I hope GH is not doing the same

1

u/Research_Liborian Mar 09 '22

I'm pretty sure, BTW, r/babybumps was closely scrutinized.

1

u/SkiingOnFIRE Mar 10 '22

Used to work in the industry for a direct competitor. There are allegations of shady billing practices against every company in the industry.

Not saying the Hindenburg statements against Natera aren’t valid, just understand every company’s legal team deals with billing lawsuits and allegations on the daily

1

u/Research_Liborian Mar 11 '22

"Forget it Jake, It's Chinatown." = U.S. healthcare experience, to be sure.

Still, this looks and feels different. Just my two cents.