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Where To Get Blood Test When Uninsured And Poor?

Seeking2012

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Seeking2012 Contributor
Seeking2012
Posted

Hi guys,

I'm new to the site and forum. My sister has Celiac Disease (tested positive) and her numbers have been slowly and steadily decreasing over the past year as she has been on the gluten-free diet.

My other immediate family members have all been tested negative, but I think all they got was the tTG one. I want the full panel but it costs $299 through one of the sites where you can order your own blood tests without going through a doctor.

My local community health clinic does not offer Celiac testing.

Where can I go if I'm poor and uninsured to pay for Celiac testing and also Gliadin Antibodies (AGA-IgA and AGA-IgG), which are NOT included anymore in standard Celiac tests?

Thanks guys!!

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kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

There are free screenings in some areas. Chicago does one in October. I sawone on the Calender on this site for florida. MIght see if your local Celiac support group has any info.

GottaSki Mentor
GottaSki
Posted

Open Original Shared Link

This panel is $200 - it includes Deamidated Gliadin Peptide (DGP), but not AGA. I did contact them for a price on an individual test for one of my kids at one point - so perhaps you can contact them and check if they offer AGAs.

Good Luck :)

jwblue Apprentice
jwblue
Posted

Open Original Shared Link

This panel is $200 - it includes Deamidated Gliadin Peptide (DGP), but not AGA. I did contact them for a price on an individual test for one of my kids at one point - so perhaps you can contact them and check if they offer AGAs.

Good Luck :)

I was going to do this test. How important is AGA?

Where can I get a complete test?

Can I get an AGA test at another lab? Do they need to be compared to other blood tests?

GottaSki Mentor
GottaSki
Posted

I was going to do this test. How important is AGA?

Where can I get a complete test?

The DGP is the newer Gliadin based test.

Of all the Celiac antibody tests, the AGA is the least important. I would feel confident having my kids tested with DGP rather than AGA.

The only place I know to have all possible tests ordered is from your doctor - perhaps someone else knows of another a source.

jwblue Apprentice
jwblue
Posted

The DGP is the newer Gliadin based test.

Of all the Celiac antibody tests, the AGA is the least important. I would feel confident having my kids tested with DGP rather than AGA.

The only place I know to have all possible tests ordered is from your doctor - perhaps someone else knows of another a source.

Is this it?

Open Original Shared Link

tom Contributor
tom
Posted

Jwblue, that one's just the 2 older tests.

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jwblue Apprentice
jwblue
Posted

Jwblue, that one's just the 2 older tests.

GS mentioned

but not AGA.

Is that the AGA?

Open Original Shared Link

tom Contributor
tom
Posted

Yes, JW - it's not always written the same, but "Gliadin Antibodies (AGA-IgA and AGA-IgG)" seems to cover/combine all the names.

GottaSki Mentor
GottaSki
Posted

Yes, JW - it's not always written the same, but "Gliadin Antibodies (AGA-IgA and AGA-IgG)" seems to cover/combine all the names.

That's right:

AGA = Anti-Gliadin Antibodies or Gliadin Antibodies

DGP = Deamidated Gliadin Peptide Antibodies

Both can be tested based on either IgA or IgG

nvsmom Community Regular
nvsmom
Posted

There is a Biocard home test too. It only tests ttg IgA and will indicate if your total serum IgA is at adequate levels to test. It was $50 in Canada.

You could always go gluten-free and look for improvements and then when you have insurance you could do a gluten challenge for a few months and retest then. Not ideal but it's an option if you can't get tested now.

Good luck and best wishes.

Seeking2012 Contributor
Seeking2012
Posted
  • Author

I was going to do this test. How important is AGA?

Where can I get a complete test?

Can I get an AGA test at another lab? Do they need to be compared to other blood tests?

The AGA-IgG and AGA-IgA are mostly used to test for non-Celiac gluten sensitivity, as these are the antibodies that go after gliadin. There was a recent paper done that showed that there is a separate, distinct condition which exists separate from Celiac Disease (but involves many of the same symptoms as Celiac Disease) and is called gluten sensitivity.

Gluten Sensitivity: The body produces an immune response, but not an autoimmune response, to gliadin. Autoimmune response means the body is attacking itself (thereby destroying the intestinal tissue/villi/etc), whereas an immune response just means that the body is attacking the "foreign invader."

Gluten sensitivity would mean your body is producing antibodies against gliadin but that it's not sending antibodies after your own tissues or tearing up your gut.

Whereas the full Celiac panel would most likely not include this aspect of the test.

The Gluten Sensitivity blood test costs $109 at Open Original Shared Link just type "gliadin" in the search bar and it comes up.

GottaSki Mentor
GottaSki
Posted

The AGA-IgG and AGA-IgA are mostly used to test for non-Celiac gluten sensitivity, as these are the antibodies that go after gliadin. There was a recent paper done that showed that there is a separate, distinct condition which exists separate from Celiac Disease (but involves many of the same symptoms as Celiac Disease) and is called gluten sensitivity.

Gluten Sensitivity: The body produces an immune response, but not an autoimmune response, to gliadin. Autoimmune response means the body is attacking itself (thereby destroying the intestinal tissue/villi/etc), whereas an immune response just means that the body is attacking the "foreign invader."

Gluten sensitivity would mean your body is producing antibodies against gliadin but that it's not sending antibodies after your own tissues or tearing up your gut.

Whereas the full Celiac panel would most likely not include this aspect of the test.

The Gluten Sensitivity blood test costs $109 at Open Original Shared Link, just type "gliadin" in the search bar and it comes up.

Yes, the Deamidated Gliadin Peptide is the newer version of testing for the production of antibodies against the peptides of one of the proteins found in gluten - Gliadin. The DGP is preferable to AGA - IMO.

jwblue Apprentice
jwblue
Posted

The AGA-IgG and AGA-IgA are mostly used to test for non-Celiac gluten sensitivity, as these are the antibodies that go after gliadin. There was a recent paper done that showed that there is a separate, distinct condition which exists separate from Celiac Disease (but involves many of the same symptoms as Celiac Disease) and is called gluten sensitivity.

Gluten Sensitivity: The body produces an immune response, but not an autoimmune response, to gliadin. Autoimmune response means the body is attacking itself (thereby destroying the intestinal tissue/villi/etc), whereas an immune response just means that the body is attacking the "foreign invader."

Gluten sensitivity would mean your body is producing antibodies against gliadin but that it's not sending antibodies after your own tissues or tearing up your gut.

Whereas the full Celiac panel would most likely not include this aspect of the test.

The Gluten Sensitivity blood test costs $109 at Open Original Shared Link, just type "gliadin" in the search bar and it comes up.

Thank you. I don't care about gluten sensitivity. Just Celiac.

Seeking2012 Contributor
Seeking2012
Posted
  • Author

There are free screenings in some areas. Chicago does one in October. I sawone on the Calender on this site for florida. MIght see if your local Celiac support group has any info.

thank you; I will do that today

Seeking2012 Contributor
Seeking2012
Posted
  • Author

Ok so I just finished calling every "community" health clinic--which basically means "free" or "sliding scale" clinic--in my county. None of them offer Celiac testing. Even the hospital labs that I just called don't directly test Celiac--they send them out to another lab to do it. WOW huh????

And Celiac testing isn't even covered by Medicare in most cases--which I don't have anyway, but looked it up out of curiosity.

So my only real chance at getting a Celiac test seems to be to order it myself through one of the above-mentioned links. That's gonna hurt to the tune of $200-$300. I don't have it but my fiance has offered to pay it for me. I hate to ask so much of him, and it will probably come out negative due to the fact that blood testing for celiac disease isn't very accurate...

But my sister has been diagnosed with celiac disease. So I should do it.

GottaSki Mentor
GottaSki
Posted

Ok so I just finished calling every "community" health clinic--which basically means "free" or "sliding scale" clinic--in my county. None of them offer Celiac testing. Even the hospital labs that I just called don't directly test Celiac--they send them out to another lab to do it. WOW huh????

And Celiac testing isn't even covered by Medicare in most cases--which I don't have anyway, but looked it up out of curiosity.

So my only real chance at getting a Celiac test seems to be to order it myself through one of the above-mentioned links. That's gonna hurt to the tune of $200-$300. I don't have it but my fiance has offered to pay it for me. I hate to ask so much of him, and it will probably come out negative due to the fact that blood testing for celiac disease isn't very accurate...

But my sister has been diagnosed with celiac disease. So I should do it.

If you have removed gluten or even gone gluten light the tests will not be as accurate as possible.

If you haven't removed gluten, but have symptoms - have the blood drawn and then remove ALL gluten - this is often the best test.

ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

Ok so I just finished calling every "community" health clinic--which basically means "free" or "sliding scale" clinic--in my county. None of them offer Celiac testing. Even the hospital labs that I just called don't directly test Celiac--they send them out to another lab to do it. WOW huh????

And Celiac testing isn't even covered by Medicare in most cases--which I don't have anyway, but looked it up out of curiosity.

So my only real chance at getting a Celiac test seems to be to order it myself through one of the above-mentioned links. That's gonna hurt to the tune of $200-$300. I don't have it but my fiance has offered to pay it for me. I hate to ask so much of him, and it will probably come out negative due to the fact that blood testing for celiac disease isn't very accurate...

But my sister has been diagnosed with celiac disease. So I should do it.

I don't know if this is available in your area but here we have hospitals and labs that will charge a sliding or no fee scale to folks that have a low income and no insurance. You would apply through the hospitals finance office. My local hospitals will cover anything billed by the hospital including lab work that might need to be sent out. The only draw back is they don't cover the private physicans bills. You might be able to get the sliding or no fee scale from the hospital and then go into a clinic with the list of the tests needed so they can write the script to take to the hospitals lab.

If none of that is possible then you do have the option of giving the diet a good strict try for a few months. The one big draw back to that is being gluten free or gluten light will mean a good chance of a false negative on future testing without a gluten challenge.

  • 2 months later...
Seeking2012 Contributor
Seeking2012
Posted
  • Author

I don't know if this is available in your area but here we have hospitals and labs that will charge a sliding or no fee scale to folks that have a low income and no insurance. You would apply through the hospitals finance office. My local hospitals will cover anything billed by the hospital including lab work that might need to be sent out. The only draw back is they don't cover the private physicans bills. You might be able to get the sliding or no fee scale from the hospital and then go into a clinic with the list of the tests needed so they can write the script to take to the hospitals lab.

If none of that is possible then you do have the option of giving the diet a good strict try for a few months. The one big draw back to that is being gluten free or gluten light will mean a good chance of a false negative on future testing without a gluten challenge.

But I wouldn't be able to just walk in to the lab and get the test done directly; I'd need to be written up for lab work by a doctor, and that means I'd have to go and see the doctor first (and the sliding scale thing would not apply to the doctor's visit), and doctors visits can cost $100-$300, so that kind of makes applying for the hospital's lab sliding scale fee pointless because I'd end up paying about the same anyways as I would by going to DirectLabs and just paying for that out of pocket.

I've heard of hospitals and universities doing free celiac testing but it only involves the tTG IgA one, not all the others in the complete panel. I'll end up having to pay for the entire thing out of pocket; there is just no way around it...

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