6 ms·
Greater than 70% of African Americans are suspected to be Vit D deficient. Definitely worth getting tested if you can [1] especially if you live in the more nor
by erentz 6y ago
Greater than 70% of African Americans are suspected to be Vit D deficient. Definitely worth getting tested if you can [1] especially if you live in the more northern latitudes. Doubly so during winter.
[1] with the note that generally insurance is a real PITA with vitamin D testing. The trick usually is to list as a diagnosis code a previous history of low vitamin D. Yes it’s like a catch 22. You need prior testing showing low Vit D to get testing to show low Vit D.
Given the huge prevalence of low vitamin D (70+%) amongst African Americans this is maybe a classic example of a dysfunctional health system. A vitamin D supplement is a dirt cheap public health intervention with potentially big pay offs across such a large segment of the population.
- ghaff 6y ago>generally insurance is a real PITA with vitamin D testing FWIW, vitamin D has been among the things tested when I have my blood work for an annual physical and never had any insurance issue about it. And I do take supplements because it was low.
- mypalmike 6y agoInteresting. I had to pay something like $100 out of pocket for my recent vitamin D test (unsurprisingly it was low).
- erentz 6y agoI suspect his doctor just knew to code it properly as low vitamin D for monitoring of replacement therapy. Since he legitimately has low D and is on replacement therapy there’s no issue. For first timers not sure if they are or not an experienced doctor will just label it this way anyway and tell you 9/10 it’ll work. 1/10 you’ll have to pay the fee. It’s just another example of our nonsensical health system at work.
- ghaff 6y agoI really have no idea although I'm very skeptical that my former primary care doctor would have done anything more sophisticated than checking a bunch of boxes on the blood work sheet and faxed it to the hospital lab. It certainly wasn't in response to any symptoms about anything; it just came in low in the lab results at some point. Of course, may be a function of particular insurance provider policies.
- hanklazard 6y agoI can tell you that the proper way to code various labs in order to get them paid for by insurers, seems like an intentionally opaque and always changing landscape. It does vary by insurer, and much of the time, I don't even know about a very expensive lab unless a patient informs me--I'm sure many just curse their bill (and maybe me) and go on with their day without giving me the feedback. This is just one of the many frustrating parts of the way our medical system is set-up. As a doctor, I have even considered not seeing my own doctor for labs and using a private company, as others have mentioned in this thread. At least those companies provide price transparency.
- icelancer 6y agoIt's not for mine. I only get a Basic Metabolic Test for free, VitD the doctor bitches/moans and whatever.
- hanklazard 6y agoPrimary care doc in MA here. I can tell you that we run into a lot of trouble with getting insurance to pay for these tests in people who don’t have a deficiency or insufficiency on record. I’m glad you haven’t had any problems with yours!
- icelancer 6y agoUsing online labs it's super cheap to get it done yourself for less than $50/test. Not worth dealing with insurance BS and your doctor's likely nonsensical ravings about it, just do it and reimburse using your HSA if you have one.
- kmonsen 6y agoDo you have some online labs you can recommend?
- exhilaration 6y agoI paid $47 for this: https://www.lifeextension.com/lab-testing/itemlc081950/vitamin-d-25-hydroxy-blood-test https://www.lifeextension.com/lab-testing/itemlc081950/vitam... You get a doctor's prescription (from a Florida doctor, good for anywhere in the country) and instructions to go to your nearest Labcorp for a blood draw. So make sure you have a Labcorp near you. Here are a few alternatives you can look into, mentioned in this discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15868143 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15868143 [0]: https://www.privatemdlabs.com https://www.privatemdlabs.com [1]: http://www.directlabs.com/ http://www.directlabs.com/ [2]: https://www.walkinlab.com/ https://www.walkinlab.com/ [3]: https://www.health-tests-direct.com/ https://www.health-tests-direct.com/ [4]: https://www.personalabs.com/ https://www.personalabs.com/
- icelancer 6y agoYeah these all use basically the white labeled services behind them, and are all more or less good. Don't want to endorse any of them but I use one in the footnotes.
- read_if_gay_ 6y agoSince it’s dirt cheap and basically impossible to take too much of, just skip the tests and take supplements preemptively.
- 6y ago