Negotiating lower price on a denied insurance claim

I had an insurance claim partially denied for some lab tests that my doctor ordered. It doesn't look like I'm going to have any luck on appealing it, and I'm left with trying to negotiate a lower price. I can afford to pay the bill, but it's mostly a matter of principle to me at this point. The bill is $200+ for something that the insurance company would have paid $20 for (I checked the code on www.fairhealthconsumer.org and also compared it to another similar test that was approved by insurance).

When I followed up with the lab, they gave me contact info for their settlements department and put my account on hold for 30 days (or pause? I forgot the exact verbiage). The word "settlement" kind of scared me a bit though. Is this going to have any impact on my credit? We're under contract for a house right now and the last thing we need is a $200 bill causing us to lose our house. Should I just give up on this foolish errand and pay what they billed me?

submitted by /u/Sensitive-Shallot475
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