Since 2015, “a partnership of several leading consumer health organizations announced the launch of Patient Assistance for Lab Services (PALS).” (Gastroenterol & Endoscopy News, March 2016, pg 54).  PALS offers access to more than 85 lab tests, most costing only $5 and all of the tests at a fraction of the cost of pricing at competing labs. (See request-a-test for competing costs: requestatest.com)

PALS website: Patient Assistance for Lab Services

Some examples of costs:

$5 tests: (There is a $15 shipping fee as well which covers all testing)

• Hepatic Function Panel
• CBC/d
• Complete Metabolic Panel (CMP)
• Hemoglobin A1C
• Cholesterol
• TSH w reflex to T4

Some tests are more expensive but still heavily discounted:

• Hepatitis C RNA PCR Quantitative $100

The process of filling out the paperwork & having signed by a physician along with getting the testing complete will likely take a few weeks; so this testing right now is not useful for urgent testing.

My take:  Due to cost constraints, some patients are not receiving lab monitoring as frequently as recommended.  This discounted testing could be a useful for option in this scenario.

Key words:

• Patient assistance
• Cheap
• Inexpensive
• Lab test
• Bloodwork
• No insurance

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