Save money on thyroid treatment and get optimal results with these tips.
Treating thyroid conditions can be complicated. The labwork and lifetime of taking replacement medications can weigh on your finances. There are a few ways to reduce your expenses and get optimal care.
Obtaining A Diagnosis
This simple-sounding step can be decades of dismissiveness, and misdiagnosis for some people. Some are lucky and a doctor identifies the problem early and they are able to treat their condition effectively. Some have theirs missed by doctors who don’t do sufficient testing or dismiss thyroid symptoms as being psychosomatic or general age-related complaints. Even worse are doctors who put the signs down to moral failings of their patients and leave them to suffer.
If you suspect you may have a thyroid problem, make sure you understand the common symptoms of hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism. Many doctors or the clinics they work for only test for T4 and TSH to decide if someone has a thyroid condition. This is over-simplistic and may miss many cases of hypothyroidism. A broader panel of thyroid tests including a TPO thyroid antibody test and a T3 test will give a better picture of thyroid function. Some doctors will also test things like cholesterol and vitamin D at the same time.
If a doctor refuses to test for anything more than T4 and TSH and you have obvious symptoms, look for a 2nd opinion from a qualified professional. There is much controversy in the medical community about treating thyroid disorders. Some of it is blatantly sexist and accuses patients of somehow faking their illness. There are plenty of doctors who fully understand thyroid disorders and how to treat them but it may take some research to find one.
Labwork
Lab tests can be expensive. Many insurance plans apply a deductible to lab work that you will have to pay out of pocket and some clinics charge obscene markups on lab work. Find out more about how to get the best price for labwork in our guide here.
Using an independent walk-in lab may save you money or be 100% covered under your insurance plan. The larger independent lab chains will allow you to request a full thyroid panel without an order from your doctor. This can be quite useful if you suspect a thyroid problem but have been rebuffed by your doctor, or want to obtain some lab values to take with to an appointment.
People with already diagnosed thyroid disorders may want to order their own lab work to see where their levels are at, or to take them with to an appointment to advocate for a medication adjustment. Self-ordered tests can also be useful when you need more information about your levels but don’t really need a doctor’s appointment. With many in-demand specialists with long waiting lists, it may make more sense to order your own labs rather than taking up an appointment slot just to request tests.
There are also newer thyroid test kits like this one from Everlywell. This tests for multiple thyroid values including TPO and T3 and uses an at-home finger stick to collect the sample. Mail in the kit and get your results via Everlywell’s app once their doctor reviews your test results. The test kit is $89 from Amazon.
Medication
Thyroid medications usually have to be taken for a lifetime. Brand-name medications can be excessively expensive. CVS wanted over $500 cash price for a refill of Cytomel T3. Even with insurance, it was going to cost over $300 and they would have to special order it. Synthroid, the brand name T4 replacement medication is frequently not covered by insurance (or at a higher copay) and can be $50 to $90 cash price for 30 days worth.
Generics are an option for some people. Others do poorly on generics or have problems with certain generics. Most pharmacies get whatever generic “brand” their buyers can get the best price on at that moment. If you don’t do well on certain generics this can be problematic.
There are two options. One is to have your doctor write your prescription as brand only. Health insurance will typically pick up more of the cost in this case so your copay is smaller. This may not be an option for medications that are expensive like Cytomel. In this case, look at different “brands” of generic T3. Honeybee Health offers different brands of generic T3 and T4 and allows you to choose which one to fill your prescription with. Prices vary but they are still far below the cost of brand names.
You can avoid nasty surprises at the pharmacy by knowing your plan’s coverage and comparing prices at retail and mail-order pharmacies. Find out more about getting the best price for your prescription here in our guide. Learn more about how to save by buying drugs online here.