Wednesday, August 24, 2011

What does the ProstAsure prostate cancer screening test cost, and do most major medical insurers cover it

What does the ProstAsure prostate cancer screening test cost, and do most major medical insurers cover it?
I am going back this week for another PSA test, but want to have the doc also do a PSA ratio test and also a ProstAsure score. Anyone familiar with these and would my insurance co (United Health Care) cover it? (I find nothing in my booklet that says they don't, but the ProstAsure doesn't seem to have a whole lot of discussion on the web. thanx.
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Here's one source but I'm not sure about its reliability: http://www.newsrx.com/newsletters/Sex-Weekly-Plus/1998-03-16/199803163336SW.html According to this (reputable source) it is indeed a valid and useful test: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=9457308&itool=pubmed_AbstractPlus As far as I know United Healthcare has direct contracts with these two laboratories: LabCorp (http://labcorp.com/dos/index.html) and QuestDiagnostics (http://labcorp.com/) direct contract means your insurance will pay for tests performed by this lab as long as your doctor provided an appropriate diagnosis on the test request form. Unfortunately, none of them have this test listed. However, they could send it to a third party (another lab they have partnership with - it would be treated as a "send out test") and it might still be covered by your insurance. QuestDiagnostics often uses Mayo Clinic lab as a partner; Lab Corp has many partner labs. Try talking to your doctor first. However, in the doctor's office they might not feel like investigating this for you because it's a lot of work and no gain for them. Try talking to these two labs - request to talk to the Send-Out department right away and ask them if they could do this test as a send-out to another lab. If the answer is yes, request detailed info (which lab can perform it, test code, if they know the cost etc.) then call your insurance with this information and have them find out for you if it is covered. Always get full names and titles of the people you talk to. Good luck!

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