Costs by Region – Lab Tests

April 5, 2018

Do you know the costs of care for your patients? Care costs vary greatly across Washington State, depending on location and the provider organization. In a series of articles, we’ll show care costs based on approximately 105,000 claims in Washington. The data reflects a year’s worth of claims from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017. The costs shown are allowed amounts paid by Premera and our members for care, based on contracts between Premera and healthcare providers. Costs are rounded to the nearest dollar.

Lab tests

The basic metabolic panel and general health panel are two of the most common lab tests that providers order for patients. Below are the average total costs for these two common tests, based on allowed amounts, as described above. Patients’ out-of-pocket costs may be less.

Although costs of doing business are higher in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area, these two lab tests are actually more affordable than in some other regions.

Basic metabolic panel – average allowed amount.

General health panel – average allowed amount.

*North Puget Sound includes Bellingham, Mount Vernon, and Anacortes.

**Eastern Washington includes Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Walla Walla, Wenatchee, and Yakima.

What can you do?

As we partner with providers to make healthcare work better, our goal is to ensure that our members receive the right service at a fair price. To help us in that effort, check with your administrators to see if you have options to lower contract rates or use other lab partners.

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