Are these testosterone clinic fees reasonable?

[JimBob]

I've been contacting a few TRT clinics, and am learning that some charge either a monthly or annual fee just to be their patient. Do these fees seem reasonable?

Just Right 4 You Hormone Optimization Program Includes: Physician consultation with initial blood draw, DXA Scan with first appointment, quarterly follow up consultations, two additional blood draws with follow up consultation, ongoing management of three hormone prescriptions.

Two convenient program payment options: 1 - Initial payment of $395 with ongoing monthly payments of $90 or 2 - $1,100 paid in full annually (savings of $285)

Hormones are an additional cost paid directly to the pharmacy

The physician at this clinic is Dr. Merril Matschke, a board urologist. I've heard him a few times on various podcasts.

 

[sh1973]

Not sure if you have insurance but I go through a local urologist and my yearly out of pocket expense is on $150-$200. I have no complaints about the care I receive.

 

[Vince]

I recommend Prime body or defy Medical.

Clinics that advertise on ExcelMale.com

 

[DragonBits]

I've been contacting a few TRT clinics, and am learning that some charge either a monthly or annual fee just to be their patient. Do these fees seem reasonable?

Just Right 4 You Hormone Optimization Program Includes: Physician consultation with initial blood draw, DXA Scan with first appointment, quarterly follow up consultations, two additional blood draws with follow up consultation, ongoing management of three hormone prescriptions.

Two convenient program payment options: 1 - Initial payment of $395 with ongoing monthly payments of $90 or 2 - $1,100 paid in full annually (savings of $285)

Hormones are an additional cost paid directly to the pharmacy

The physician at this clinic is Dr. Merril Matschke, a board urologist. I've heard him a few times on various podcasts.

If seems reasonable to me, but then again it depends on what exactly is included in the blood test and what exactly is meant by 3 hormone prescriptions. Is HCG included as a hormone? Does this mean 3 vials of testosterone cypionate, how much in each vial, etc, are the consultation with the doctor, and I assume this is for local clients.

 

[dnfuss]

If seems reasonable to me, but then again it depends on what exactly is included in the blood test and what exactly is meant by 3 hormone prescriptions. Is HCG included as a hormone? Does this mean 3 vials of testosterone cypionate, how much in each vial, etc, are the consultation with the doctor, and I assume this is for local clients.

I read the clinic's language, "ongoing management of three hormone prescriptions" and "Hormones are an additional cost paid directly to the pharmacy," to mean that the clinic's ongoing fee of $90/month covers appointments and labs and they write prescriptions, but that the patient pays the costs of their prescriptions to the pharmacy in addition to that. I could be wrong.

 

[HealthMan]

If your insurance covers the medication or if the clinic doesn’t force you to buy with a specific pharmacy and charge more for that. Doesn’t sound terrible.

 

[JimBob]

If seems reasonable to me, but then again it depends on what exactly is included in the blood test and what exactly is meant by 3 hormone prescriptions. Is HCG included as a hormone? Does this mean 3 vials of testosterone cypionate, how much in each vial, etc, are the consultation with the doctor, and I assume this is for local clients.

Yeah, it's not very clear. It does state that hormones are an "additional cost". And then, "ongoing management of three hormones prescriptions". Could mean anything. It sounds like they will write up to three hormone prescriptions without charging you for the actual prescription, which some clinics/doctors do. I guess I'm a little confused about lab costs which seem to be covered...isn't my local lab going to bill me for lab work?

 

[DragonBits]

Yeah, it's not very clear. It does state that hormones are an "additional cost". And then, "ongoing management of three hormones prescriptions". Could mean anything. It sounds like they will write up to three hormone prescriptions without charging you for the actual prescription, which some clinics/doctors do. I guess I'm a little confused about lab costs which seem to be covered...isn't my local lab going to bill me for lab work?

As far as the lab billing you, it all depends on how it was ordered.

If you order the tests yourself, generally you prepay.
If a doctor orders the tests, the lab will first try your insurance then bill you for anything the insurance doesn't cover.

If insurance refused to cover a test at all, like say medicare says routine lipid testing isn't covered, then the lab will generally bill you a lot more than it would cost you to buy the test yourself. Like say you could self pay for a lipid test for $25, the lab might bill you $125.

 

[fifty]

Fun fact: My wife got a vitamin D test as part of her yearly checkup. Insurance paid a certain percent of it (united healthcare hsa2) then she was billed for the remainder. The remaining portion she had to pay was still more expensive than just ordering the test from discountlabs.

 

[Vince Carter]

Good point about the costs, from the Pharmacy.
But more to it this basic $395 +$90mth...are ALL the labs included there? Knowing what labs cost there's no way that they're including all the labs through the year in 395/90mth. Im very leary to what labs their including, if any.

 

[JimBob]

I just sent them an email concerning the labs. Also, I want to know how my local Labcorp draws my lab work, and then bills the clinic. Maybe I'm just not understanding something here.

 

[JimBob]

From the clinic concerning which labs are covered:
Hi Jim,

The Just Right 4 You program is focused primarily on hormones. Here is a list of the labs:

DHEA-Sulfate
Progesterone
FSH & LH
Estradiol (E2)
Testosterone, Bioavailable
00160 Testosterone, Total
00169 Testosterone, Free
00168 Sex Hormone Binding Globulin
00183 Bioavailable Testosterone
CBC W/DIFF
Vitamin D, 25-OH, LC/MS/MS w/D2 & D3
Homocysteine
B12
Thyroid Panel (FT3, FT4, TSH)

Your blood work is included in the program cost, and instructions are provided on where to get them drawn in your area.

 

[Systemlord]

Dr. Merrill Matschke is a smart cookie.

 

[Vince Carter]

Red flag on the E2 testing, probably Roche ECLIA, Thyroid panel is incomplete but acceptable as reverse T3 should be included, and testing LH/FSH after the initial set is a waste of money.