For any bean that has gotten tests done at msu

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marygracemom

marygracemom

Member Since 2013
If you could all please help. My vet wanted to charge me double what msu is charging to get the high dose tests done. I was told this is normal and most every vet would do the same. I want to get as many responses from others who have had blood sent by their vets to MSU and what they were charged. Also they said this was for the blood draw and the interpretation of the results. I did tell them that MSU provided that. Anyway, I want to print out all the responses and give to my vet to show how unfair they are being. I was also getting her labs done anyway, so they already had a needle in, what's the extra work?? I'm so frustrated.
 
We had the test done at 2 different vets.

5/23/11 vet 1
(nothing else was being done at this appt except drawing blood for MSU)
Blood collection fee $11.00
MSU Insulin Like Growth Factor-1 $61.25
MSU Insulin Autoantibody $18.75
Postage - overnight $75.00
......total $166.00

4/16/12 vet #2 (completely different clinic)
IDEXX Senior Screen $163.55 (unrelated to the MSU test)
Insulin Like Growth Factor-1 $49.00
Shipping/Handling Fee $15.00
.......total $64.00
 
As I already said,

I had Ozy tested for IAA and Acromegaly at MSU in December. The cost to me was $125 for both tests. The bloodwork was drawn during his dental. The extra cost beyond MSU charges was for drawing the blood, packaging it, and sending it in.
 
I'm not sure how long you are wanting/willing to wait. We have our vet appointment on March 29 to an annual visit and draw blood for high dose testing. I can call on Monday and see what the vet is going to charge for the two tests. She's done it with another FDMB member in the past so she should have those costs already plotted out.
 
I haven't had to deal with the high dose testing, but my first thought is that this vet is trying to bamboozle you.

There's nothing he/she should be charging other than the blood draw fee (if there even should be one if they're already doing bloodwork) and the shipping cost.

As you have already noted, MSU does the testing and should be sending the results to your vet to relay to you. That requires a phone call, no interpretation on their part.

You may want to call MSU and ask if this is something they've ever heard of. I'm betting it's not.

I'm sorry you are having to deal with this kind of thing. It's bad enough when our vets can't take the time to learn about a disease they're going to be seeing a lot of in the future...it's another to take advantage of a client to pad their own pocket.

According to the MSU ordering catalog:
Insulin Antibody test..$16
Insulin Growth Factor...$52

They also say this: Fees charged by veterinarians typically reflect the time, expertise, and expense necessary to draw the sample, ship it in an appropriate
manner, and provide treatment advice based on test results.
 
As I said earlier, the "doubling" of the charges may reflect the shipping which is expensive. If you are being charged for the shipping in addition to everything else, that's a discussion worth having with the vet.
 
Hi everyone, thanks for these replies. To clarify, these charges were in addition to the shipping charges. And I was wanting the blood drawn for the tests at the same time they were doing their own blood draw for senior labs. I had talked with the office for over a month to get all this set up, the charges clarified, even confirmed that they had the supplies the day prior to the appointment, the double up the msu fee was first brought up to me prior to them drawing her blood. I couldn't afford the double up charges on top of the 299 that I had already spent. Maybe I should have opted to go with those double up fees and get that done instead of the labs but I wanted those too. And I was getting so much resistance about even testing her for the high dose conditions, even with all the research articles I had brought.
I am going to wait and get her lab results tomorrow, get my copies faxed then start raising cane about this with whomever owns and operates the practice. With these replies you all have provided I can show just how outrageous they are being.
Thanks for taking the time, I really appreciate it.
Happy Sunday to all.
 
After the fact, I feel I got overcharged for these tests. I was charged $98.00 for the acromegaly test and $30.00 for IAA test, taken at the same time as a senior total health profile test. The total charges that day were $474.59.
 
MSU tests

My Grayson was tested in April 2012 - 3 weeks after an exam recheck. She did not charge me an office visit or exam. Strictly the DAPAH mailer $15; IGF-1 $49; and IAA $15. Total $79. Blood was drawn/shipped same day - she even drove it to Fed Ex (though I offered).

IF the vet contacted MSU before doing the draw, they would've sent a mailer. There shouldn't have been any charge other than a draw and maybe some handling for the mailer... but doubling the fees seems completely inappropriate!
 
Thank you to everyone that responded. I am going to show the vet all these replies to show how they are being quite unfair.
Thanks again for taking the time.
Good day to all!
 
Elizabeth --

I don't know if you noticed that Lu, Grayson's mom, is in North Carolina. She may be in your area -- you may want to send her a PM to find out if she's nearby. If so, the comparison of what her vet does and what yours is telling you is particularly important. In addition, if she likes her vet, it may be worth considering a switch.
 
to throw a different spin on things, every service provider marks up every product. They have to make a living somehow! It may be standard for your vet to double their cost on bloodwork. They have to provide proper handling and then allow for some profit. Rather than saying your vet is trying to bamboozle you, I would say that maybe the other people's vets were doing them a favor by trying to reduce costs, and I notice some people said they had the blood drawn at the same time as something else so maybe the vet didn't need to charge as much.

If your vet is good, even though MSU provides (sort of) an interpretation of the results, hopefully when your vet receives the results, they will hit the books and do some research on their own so they can help you. Mine did. They probably don't know much about these conditions right now, so they key is whether they take the time to learn about them when they are faced with them.

I did the tests so long ago that I can't remember what I paid, but there was a markup and I was fine with that. $125-$150 maybe, and that was several years ago. I think my vet is amazing and I want her to stay in business.
 
We were in the vet office having blood drawn for her regular work-up so they just drew more without the extra charge. It was $15 for the mailer- which I insisted they get before-hand, $15 for IAA, and $49 for IGF (I think I got the test done the month before they went up on it). All other fees were related to the office visit that had been previously scheduled. Nothing extra for the MSU items.
 
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