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In the [United States], do these tests get covered by insurance?

Amy Nett: I hope I pronounce the name correctly, Shahana; hopefully, that’s right. It’s very pretty. Okay, I did. “In the [United States], do these tests get covered by insurance?”

No, it’s so frustrating. I would say LabCorp and Quest, I do see getting covered by insurance, but our stool test that we order, they don’t, and that one’s probably $400, and then if CCFM adds the $100 administrative fee, it’s something like $300 for the test plus the $100 administrative fee, so that’s $400. [The] SIBO breath test, let’s say $250, so then [with the] $100 admin fee, that’s $350. And then, the organics profile, ballpark $300, hormone profile, let’s say $350, so [at] that initial consult, you’re going to have testing recommended on the order of $1,200 to maybe $2,000, so that’s a pretty big investment and not everyone can afford that. So, that’s why the LabCorp and Quest you can often have applied toward the deductible or get some insurance coverage, but the rest of the Functional Medicine testing, I haven’t really seen other than one or two patients who have been willing to spend hours on the phone with [the] insurance [company] just to get it covered, I haven’t really seen it getting covered. This is largely out of pocket, which, again, is why I try to have the conversation with patients, like, these are [the] options for testing. We can get helpful information. It might be interesting. Let’s think about how this would change, what we would do, and do you want to order it? And again, I have some patients who are like, “Look, I just want to know. I just want the information.” Yes, it gets pricey.

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