… but have a pissy doctor that won’t order the tests that you know you need?
There’s a new alternative.
By going here, you can pick your own tests, pay the Medicare costs (up front, but at the MUCH reduced rate), pay a $9.50 service fee, print out a lab sheet to take to a local LabCorp, and have the results emailed to you and faxed to your doc. No one knows that YOU chose the labs, that you prepaid, etc. Additionally, if you submit the labwork after you pay to your insurance, it will most likely be covered assuming labs are covered by your insurance, once meeting your deductible.
Seriously, how much easier can this be for us?
How many of us bitch that we want PTH, or need a copper level pulled, but the surgeon doesn’t believe in running such elaborate tests and our PCPs have no clue?
The full list of labs (and costs) can be found here. Here are the prices based off my 12 month test list:
- 85025 CBC w/ diff – $10.86
- 80053 Comprehensive Metabolic Profile – $14.77
- 84134 Transthyretin (Prealbumin) – $41.75
- 80061 Lipid profile – $17.77
- 83735 Magnesium, Serum – $13.23
- 7444 Thyroid panel – $103.00
- 83540 Iron Profile (Includes TIBC and Sat %) – $9.05
- 82728 Ferritin – $19.03
- 84630 Zinc, RBC – $42.15
- 84446 Vitamin A – $49.00
- 82306 Vitamin D (25-hydroxy) – $52.12
- 84425 Vitamin B-1 (Thiamin), whole blood – $60.00 (serum)
- 84207 Vitamin B-6 (Pyridoxine), plasma – $88.00
- 82747 Folate, RBC – $77.55
- 82607 Vitamin B12 – $29.75
- 83970 Parathyroid Hormone (PTH), Intact – $56.25
- 83937 Osteocalcin – Not Available
83921 Methylmalonic Acid, Serum – $114.90 - 85610 PT – $5.49
- 85730 PTT – $16.95
- 84590 Vitamin E – $59.00
- 82525 Copper – $42.50
- 496 Hemoglobin A1C – $13.56
Total for this list: $936.71
Is this a lot of cash? Of course it is. What I suggest is that you get as much as you can from your doc. And what they WON’T order? You do yourself. Make life easier — especially those of you who aren’t to the point of standing up to the docs yet (hey, it takes time to get to the point of learning that you really DO have balls and the right to do so). So if 1/2 is ordered? Take care of the other 1/2 and SUBMIT THE BILL TO YOUR INSURANCE! Still cheaper, I’m sure, than what you’d pay by going through a local lab.
Actually, I love the ability of being able to call up a lab at any time. What’s my iron doing today? Well, now I can find out without having to call up a doctor to find out — and it’s not going to cost me an arm and leg to do so.
This is another tool to allow us to take care of ourselves. It’s up to us to take responsibility for what we chose to do to our innards. Please act responsibly and care for it.
Need a promo code? WLSVG will get you 15% off!
I’m so glad I posted this to the Grads list after discovering it yesterday. I hope it helps a lot of people in our community. I wish you’d talked to me before lifting my email nearly word-for-word, though, as that’s against the rules of OSSG-Graduate.
Julia
RNY 09/17/01
Still at goal
Really? Let’s take a looksee:
“http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/12/08/low.cost.lab.tests/index.html
< http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/12/08/low.cost.lab.tests/index.html>You have
to pay for them up front, but they’re at the Medicare government-negotiated
price, and if you have insurance, your carrier will almost certainly
reimburse you after you’ve met any deductible/co-pay.
No more begging and pleading to get labs done!!
1. Go to the site. http://www.scmsoc.org/Prepaid3.htm
2. Choose the tests you need.
3. Pay for them with your credit card. (There’s a $9.50 service fee).
4. Print a lab slip.
5. Take it to LabCorp near you. Get blood drawn.
6. The lab results are faxed to the doctor that you indicate and you, often
within 24 hours.
7. DONE.
Except in New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island, anyone in the U.S. can use
> the service. There are no income guidelines. LabCorp agreed to accept the
> lower charges in exchange for the increased volume it expected to gain.
Comprehensive Vitamin Panel (folate, B12, D 25-hydroxy, Vit C, Calcium) $175
Serum ferritin $19.03
Folate (folic acid) $35.00
Iron and TIBC $9.05
Serum iron $12.08
Niacin B3 $125.00
Serum selenium $163.30
Superior Wellness Profile (CBC, thyroid panel, lipid profile, liver profile,
kidney panel, mineral and bone panel, fluid and electrolyte panel, Free T3,
TAA, TPO, Vitamin D, 25-Hydroxy, Iron and TIBC, Ferritin and Hemoglobin
A1c.) $350.00 — this is most of what we have done except for some of the
vites, mag, and zinc…
Serum Vitamin A $49.00
Plasma Vitamin B1 $60.00
Vitamin B12 $29.75
Vitamin B12 and Folate $21.06
Plasma Vitamin B6 $88.00
Vitamin C $55.00
Vit D 25-hydroxy, D2 + D3 $175.00
Vit D, 1,25 + 25-Hydroxy $169.99
Vit D, 1,25 Dihydroxy $140.10
Serum Vitamin E $59.00
Vitamin K1 (Serum or Plasma) $110.25
Serum Calcium $21.21
Comprehensive Metabolic Profile (14) $14.77
Cortisol $37.50
Cortison, serim LCMS $43.50
Glucose, plasma $7.75
Glucose, serum $7.75
Hematocrit $7.82
Hemoglobin $6.21
Hemoglobin A1c and Lipid Panel w/LDL:HDL ratio $30.05
Lipid panel with LDL:HDL ratio $17.77
Lipid panel with glucose, plasma $35.00
Magnesium, serum $13.23
Urinalysis, routine $4.43
Albumin, Serum $15.15
Alkaline Phosphatase, Serum $11.85
AST/SGOT $10.65
Bilirubin, Total $21.50
Prealbumin $41.75
Protein, Total, Serum $15.15
Zinc, Plasma or Serum $42.15 (my insurance was charged $800 for this last
time!)
Carbon Dioxide, Total $18.00
There are literally hundreds more on the site…
Hope this helps!
Julia
RNY 09/17/01″
I don’t deal well with unfounded accusations, Julia. I took MY 12 month list (the bullets and links are even from MY site) and looked up EACH test. Which took 45 minutes or so given the two children screaming around, a very horrible headache, and two of us sick with bad bronchitis. I think it’s obvious to ANYONE who compares the two lists that they are not even close to being the same, nor that I copied you at all, nor even close to “word for word.”
I accept fault when it is mine. It is not the case this time.
Repost here:
So far off the mark, Julia. I just read both. And the original article is a public one, so? I don’t know, but I think that you didn’t come up with it at all, but shared the link. Looks like you copy/pasted their lab stuff, while Andrea only used the ones that she recommends for labs. That isn’t copying you.
Do you know if you can pay for the tests with a medical flex spending card?
I don’t know, Nik. It would be worth a call and find out. Beneficial information to find out.
Thanks for the information…Your awesome..
Nikki,
If the cards are set up on a Visa or MC platform, then we sure do… if it’s not, we certainly accept those cards plus Amex & PayPal
Thank you so much for this information Andrea. You have helped me immensely because my PCP will order only what he thinks is important and the same with my surgeon but I will stand up to them and tell them what I want. I may not always get it but this will certainly help me to take care of myself the way I know my body needs to be taken care of. BTW, don’t even fret over that Julia person she is just jealous that you actually wrote your info whereas she did not.