Health Insurance and Genetic Testing

If you are considering genetic testing and would like to use your health insurance to pay for it, there are some things you may want to keep in mind before you decide to file your claim. While genetic testing can be expensive, it may be worth your money to forgo using insurance.

• When you file a claim with health insurance for genetic testing, your genetic testing information may not be as private as you would like. Think about it; if you get your genetic test and pay for it yourself, no one knows about it except for you and the doctors.  If you file for insurance, your doctor has to send the information from your genetic test to the insurance company and then it exchanges hands several time before it’s paid. You may not care if total strangers see your information, but it’s a small world and it’s wise to think that maybe someone you might know may come across your results.

• Insurance doesn’t pay for everything especially in genetic testing.  Genetic testing is so new and most insurances don’t find it necessary.  You may find that when you do file for insurance, you will have to end up paying for all of it or at least a big chunk.

Plan Ahead When Using Health Insurance

If you want to use insurance, it’s wise to plan ahead by calling your insurance company and asking what they cover with genetic testing. You also should ask what you need to do to help make the claiming process easier.

(Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/senoranderson/2245216631/)

June 12th, 2009 by Marcelina Hardy | Posted in Genetic Testing | (0)