Are there different cholesterol tests?

[Nika]

It is very much a financial matter.

We want to shop for a cheaper life insurance and would like to know what DHs cholesterol is before doing so. (It is borderline, and he had a lot of "cheat meals" lately, so if it is on the higher side we will delay a little while he exercises and has no cheat meals). Plus, behavior is not always a good predictor of cholesterol numbers (we got few surprises in the past).

Are there different cholesterol tests? Is there a way to get the same one as the insurance company will do? Any way than doing it from the Dr. office? (I don't know how private that info is in reality and if insurance companies can have access to it).

[Blessed]

I have no idea if there are different kinds of tests. I have a friend who doesn't have insurance. She gets her cholesterol tests done at Walgreens in the pharmacy dept for a reasonable rate.

[creditcardfree]

I know on a recent life insurance application, I did give access to my last five years of doctor information. I'm not sure if they used it or not. And your experience may differ!

[disneysteve]

Are there different cholesterol tests? Is there a way to get the same one as the insurance company will do?

There are various labs - Quest, LabCorp, BioReference, etc. They all do essentially the same test but there's really no way to know which lab each insurance company will use. Plus, results can vary even at the same lab depending on when the test was done, when and what you had last eaten.

She gets her cholesterol tests done at Walgreens in the pharmacy dept for a reasonable rate.

Can you just walk in and get it or do you need a doctor's order? If you can just walk in, that really tics me off. I hate that the system is little by little chipping away at the physicians. All of the ads for flu shots drive me nuts. Sorry, pet peeve of mine.

I know on a recent life insurance application, I did give access to my last five years of doctor information.

Exactly. The insurance company can't get your doctor's records without your permission but part of the application process will be giving them that permission.

[Nika]

Plus, results can vary even at the same lab depending on when the test was done, when and what you had last eaten.

I was under impression that cholesterol test are only affected by the last 3 months of diet and exercise, not what you ate on last day... This is interesting information to me - what should one eat/not eat? what time of day to take it? and in general, anything that can skew the numbers favorably would be very helpful.

There are various labs - Quest, LabCorp, BioReference, etc. They all do essentially the same test but there's really no way to know which lab each insurance company will use.

I did not mean the lab, I meant, are there different types/techniques for cholesterol tests?

Exactly. The insurance company can't get your doctor's records without your permission but part of the application process will be giving them that permission.

Man, pretty soon one would have to drive to Canada for cholesterol tests if one wants to be insurable. I wonder if Wallgreens would be more anonymous than DR office...

I just called quest labs (took me a freaking tonn of effort to get a person) and they won't do it. They will not send results to a patient, only to a Dr. This is very frustrating - this kind of system prevents you from controlling how private your information is.

If one can have an anonymous HIV test -- why not an anonymous cholesterol test? Lab work is a "service for a fee" yet you can't find out your info by yourself. Where is capitalism in this?

[disneysteve]

I was under impression that cholesterol test are only affected by the last 3 months of diet and exercise, not what you ate on last day...

What I meant about results varying is that even if you get your test done by Quest on Monday and get it done again on Tuesday, the results may vary. And if you are borderline, it could be the difference between within the normal range and out of the normal range. For example, it might be 197 on Monday and 205 on Tuesday with the normal cut off being 199. So Monday's test would be normal while Tuesday's test would be high.

I did not mean the lab, I meant, are there different types/techniques for cholesterol tests?

I don't think so, but again, results can vary from lab to lab and from day to day. Different labs may use different equipment or different reagents to run their tests.

Man, pretty soon one would have to drive to Canada for cholesterol tests if one wants to be insurable. I wonder if Wallgreens would be more anonymous than DR office...

I just called quest labs (took me a freaking tonn of effort to get a person) and they won't do it. They will not send results to a patient, only to a Dr. This is very frustrating - this kind of system prevents you from controlling how private your information is.

If one can have an anonymous HIV test -- why not an anonymous cholesterol test? Lab work is a "service for a fee" yet you can't find out your info by yourself. Where is capitalism in this?

The problem isn't that your doctor's office isn't private. The problem is that when you apply for insurance, they have the right to review your medical history, which makes perfect sense. On your application, you will need to list doctors and other providers you have seen within the past 5 years. If you get your cholesterol tests at Walgreens, you should list Walgreens as one of your recent providers. If you intentionally omit that information, you are technically committing insurance fraud.

Besides, chances are the insurance company is going to draw blood themselves and those are the results that they will use to make their decision, so if their test says 210 but your doctor got 180, it won't matter. The insurance test is the one that will count.

[Nika]

The problem isn't that your doctor's office isn't private. The problem is that when you apply for insurance, they have the right to review your medical history, which makes perfect sense.

Well, it is the problem.
Especially considering that it can be low on one test and high on the other? Which one is your real number? That is not a 100% true information, unlike "have you used tobacco?" to which there is one objective true answer. If you used it and you said no, you are a liar. That's easy/

But if you cholesterol is 180 or 200 or 170 on different days, what is it really? And is it not unreasonable not wanting the insurance company to pick you highest number from the last 5 years?

They do draw blood and examine you themselves. That is what they did last time.

BTW, when we bought our current insurance, my blood pressure was measured high the first 2 times (I guess I was a bit nervous). He re-checked it 5 minutes later and it was perfectly fine. But he already wrote down the high number and said it cannot be changed. So even though I had a blood pressure of a space program candidate all my life, including all stages of my pregnancy, guess which number was picked by my life insurance company?

[disneysteve]

Well, it is the problem.
Especially considering that it can be low on one test and high on the other? Which one is your real number?

But if you cholesterol is 180 or 200 or 170 on different days, what is it really? And is it not unreasonable not wanting the insurance company to pick you highest number from the last 5 years?

BTW, when we bought our current insurance, my blood pressure was measured high the first 2 times (I guess I was a bit nervous). He re-checked it 5 minutes later and it was perfectly fine. But he already wrote down the high number and said it cannot be changed. So even though I had a blood pressure of a space program candidate all my life, including all stages of my pregnancy, guess which number was picked by my life insurance company?

There isn't exactly a "real" number. Your cholesterol, just like your blood pressure, fluctuates. Nobody can say, "My cholesterol is 185" or "My blood pressure is 118/72." What you can say is, "Last time it was checked, my cholesterol was 185" or "Last time it was checked, my blood pressure was 118/72."

What reading is the insurance company going to look at? Of course, they're going to look at the worst reading you've had. They want to know how high your readings go. Of course, I'm sure they also look at other risk factors like your weight, your family history, your smoking status, etc. They're going to give the best rates to the people with the fewest risk factors.

[Nika]

Wouldn't it make more sense than to take an average of the readings?

But they are trying to give the most expensive rate that they can, and the consumer wants the least expensive. But the system (with no testing allowed unless through the physician and thus having to release all records of it to the insurance company) favors the insurance company.

It just strikes me odd that in this country you don't have a freedom to just go and self-pay for a blood work test, that nobody will provide you this service.

[disneysteve]

Wouldn't it make more sense than to take an average of the readings?

No. The average isn't important. The high is important. If you come to my office three times and your blood pressures are high, normal and normal, in any order, I'm going to consider there to be a problem. I may not start you on medication, but I'm going to more closely monitor you than I would someone who was normal every time. I'm also going to encourage and educate you more on a healthy lifestyle and things you can do to help prevent progression of your blood pressure issue. From the insurance company's standpoint, you'd be a higher risk than the person who always has a normal reading.

the system (with no testing allowed unless through the physician and thus having to release all records of it to the insurance company) favors the insurance company.

It just strikes me odd that in this country you don't have a freedom to just go and self-pay for a blood work test, that nobody will provide you this service.

How would secret cholesterol testing change anything though? If you get a test, anonymous or not, and the reading is high, it will most likely be high when the insurance company checks it too. If you get it checked and it is normal, it will most likely be normal on their test also. And if you get it checked and it is normal but it is high when they check it, it won't matter. So what will that anonymous test accomplish?

[disneysteve]

It just strikes me odd that in this country you don't have a freedom to just go and self-pay for a blood work test

A blood test is a medical procedure. Maybe I'm biased as a physician but I don't believe people should be able to just walk in off the street and have medical procedures done to them without a physician or advanced level provider (NP, PA) involved in the process.

That said, however, there are often health screenings at community centers, fairs, etc. where they will check your BP, your blood sugar, your cholesterol and other things and give you (and only you) the results. Perhaps you should check your local paper to see if something like that is happening in your area.

[SeanH]

Worried About Cholesterol? Order Your Own Tests - WSJ.com

The above Wall Street Journal Article discusses direct-to-consumer diagnostics.

I'm sort of curious if you really can fudge these numbers. Diet and exercise are great, but you have your own genetics and de-novo cholesterol synthesis to contend with.

[Like2Plan]

It is very much a financial matter.

We want to shop for a cheaper life insurance and would like to know what DHs cholesterol is before doing so. (It is borderline, and he had a lot of "cheat meals" lately, so if it is on the higher side we will delay a little while he exercises and has no cheat meals). Plus, behavior is not always a good predictor of cholesterol numbers (we got few surprises in the past).

Are there different cholesterol tests? Is there a way to get the same one as the insurance company will do? Any way than doing it from the Dr. office? (I don't know how private that info is in reality and if insurance companies can have access to it).

I'm not sure how taking another test will help your DH. He would have to disclose it If there is a questionnaire which asks medical history questions. If he doesn't, it could invalidate the policy.
If you have identified a need for additional life ins, you should not delay getting it. Didn't your DH start his diet a couple of months ago? If you keep putting it off before too long he'll be another year older and the policy will cost more because of that...