I’ve just gotten off the phone with an anti-aging clinic in my area. They asked for $675 over the phone to cover required labs. Can someone say whether this sort of up-front pricing is standard practice?
This is new territory for me, and I’m feeling vulnerable to being ripped off. Any advice would be appreciated.
Run! Fast! $675 for a blood draw? Don’t do it; once they see you’re an easy target it will get worse. I did not pay a dime except for the minimal co - pay, same for my meds.
email me at duraktrt at gmail
my trt Dr. charges nothing up front, will send a complete price list via email (i will send you mine), and everything can be done via fedex and labs in your area.
I went to Florida first and learned the hard way how the wrong Dr can take all your money…
Thanks for the reply. I assume, then, that your insurance paid for your blood work? I don’t think I’m covered for this sort of thing (elective HRT), and this complicates my understanding of what I should expect to encounter, cost-wise, and how to proceed.
I do expect to pay out-of-pocket, but I’m surprised by both the price of screens and the up-front nature. I’d called to make an appointment and was nearly immediately asked for a cc number for $675. Concerns were heightened when I discovered the clinic’s website had disappeared (“Site Temporarily Removed”).
Again, this is a clinic that advertises itself as an “anti-aging” clinic, offering HRT services - as opposed to a general endo practice, per se. I can imagine the up-front cost serves the secondary purpose of screening out patients not prepared to foot the non-trivial out-of-pocket fees for services. But again, I don’t know the score here, and I’m worried about getting screwed.
So, I take your point as regards your experience, but I’m not particularly optimistic about the chances of insurance covering the services I’m looking for. Would you say I should revise expectations? Seek different services?
Thanks again.
[quote]durak wrote:
email me at duraktrt at gmail
my trt Dr. charges nothing up front, will send a complete price list via email (i will send you mine), and everything can be done via fedex and labs in your area.
I went to Florida first and learned the hard way how the wrong Dr can take all your money…[/quote]
Will do - thanks, Durak.
JJ
I know this goes without saying, but when someone asks for your CC number over the phone, especially if you have a gut feeling they are not legit, you should hang up and look elsewhere. You need to find a Doc who will give you a prescription for bloodwork and your insurance should cover it. I don’t understand when you say “elective HRT”; how would you know without a blood workup? Don’t know how old you are, but you could be in need of HRT (and possibly more)therefore it wouldn’t be classified as “elective”. My other question is, do you think a Dr. will prescribe HRT if you don’t need it?
Like I said, get your blood work done and go from there. If you truly are in need of HRT, you’re insurance should cover it or at least a portion of what you need. On the other hand, I think it may be tough to get what you’re looking for from a legit Doc if in fact you don’t need it.
Good luck
Most anti-aging clinics will have nothing to do with insurance. The demand is high enough they don’t have to take the pay cut. These clinics will also require you to get the meds filled at their compounding pharmacy.