If the test was ordered incorrectly, it's pretty standard for the cost to be absorbed by the hospital. My feeling is, that you were commenting on battle to get the test for other variants authorized. Regardless, it's tough on everyone when these errors are made. It was actually much easier for me if someone just said "I'm sorry, it was my fault". And I, at one time was a Laboratory Technologist too, and had to apologize more than once to justifiably unhappy patients.
If it was a hospital based lab error, contact the patient advocate. If it was a stand alone commercial lab such as Quest or LabCorp, contact the local regional manager. They can usually work it out with the insurance companies.