QUESTION: My testosterone is 245 ng/dL. My insurance won't cover testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) until I'm under 200. I'm 48 yo relatively healthy. I understand I should be in the 500-700 range for my age. Anybody else have insurance problems?
ANSWER: Some medical guidelines consider testosterone levels under 350 ng/dL to be low, but several groups disagree as show in the following table ( From
J. Clin. Med. 2019, 8(3), 410)
If your insurance does not want to pay for your testosterone treatment, your doctor can fax a prescription to www.EmpowerPharmacy.com or another compounding pharmacy for a testosterone cream or injection. You can also use www.GoodRx.com. Their price is low and you don't have to go through your insurance. Also, if insurance does not want to pay for your week 8, 16 and 24 blood test follow up, you can use www.DiscountedLabs.com and buy the tests yourself.
Testosterone creams run about $40-50 per month. Injections about $30 per month (dose dependent). HCG about $70 for 11 weeks.
What is a Normal Blood Level of Testosterone? What Do Guidelines Say?
ANSWER: Some medical guidelines consider testosterone levels under 350 ng/dL to be low, but several groups disagree as show in the following table ( From
J. Clin. Med. 2019, 8(3), 410)
If your insurance does not want to pay for your testosterone treatment, your doctor can fax a prescription to www.EmpowerPharmacy.com or another compounding pharmacy for a testosterone cream or injection. You can also use www.GoodRx.com. Their price is low and you don't have to go through your insurance. Also, if insurance does not want to pay for your week 8, 16 and 24 blood test follow up, you can use www.DiscountedLabs.com and buy the tests yourself.
Testosterone creams run about $40-50 per month. Injections about $30 per month (dose dependent). HCG about $70 for 11 weeks.
Blood Test Panels That are Usually Required
- TRT Follow up (week 8 and possibly week 16 if you change doses, etc)
- After everything is stable this panel is all you need every 3-6 months
For more information, read:
What is a Normal Blood Level of Testosterone? What Do Guidelines Say?
