Does Medicare Cover Allergy Testing?
- January 12, 2024
- Reviewed by John Krahnert
Medicare Part B may cover allergy testing if your clinically significant allergic history or symptoms are not manageable by therapy.
Medicare Advantage (Medicare Part C) also cover allergy testing when medically necessary. Medicare Advantage plans can also offer benefits not found in Original Medicare.
Medicare Advantage plans with prescription drug coverage (MA-PD plans) may be able to pay for certain allergy medications, depending on your plan.
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Does Medicare pay for allergy skin testing?
A common type of allergy testing that is typically covered by Medicare is percutaneous allergy testing.
With percutaneous allergy testing, an allergen is applied to pricked or scratched skin to test for a reaction.
These allergy tests typically check for reactions to:
- Foods
- Inhalants
- Drugs
- Insect bites or stings
- Macromolecular agents
Your doctor will take your immunologic history, perform the skin test and interpret the allergy test results with you.
Another type of allergy test that is sometimes covered by Medicare is food testing. During food testing, a small amount of food is introduced to the diet in increasing amounts to test the body’s reaction.
Allergy tests must be considered medically necessary by a doctor to be covered by Medicare.
We recommend speaking with your doctor or health care provider about what allergy services are covered by Medicare before getting any sort of allergy test.
Medicare Advantage plans can offer benefits that Original Medicare doesn’t cover
Medicare Advantage plans are sold by private insurers as an alternative to Medicare Part A and Part B (Original Medicare).
All Medicare Advantage plans must cover the same hospital and medical benefits as Part A and Part B, and may include benefits not offered by Original Medicare.
If your Medicare Advantage plan covers allergy testing, your costs and provider network restrictions may vary depending on your plan. Be sure to check with your health care provider to find out how your plan might cover the services you need.
A licensed insurance agent can help you compare Medicare Advantage plans in your area and get you enrolled in a plan that works for you.
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About the author
Christian Worstell is a senior Medicare and health insurance writer with MedicareAdvantage.com. He is also a licensed health insurance agent. Christian is well-known in the insurance industry for the thousands of educational articles he’s written, helping Americans better understand their health insurance and Medicare coverage.
Christian’s work as a Medicare expert has appeared in several top-tier and trade news outlets including Forbes, MarketWatch, WebMD and Yahoo! Finance.
Christian has written hundreds of articles for MedicareAvantage.com that teach Medicare beneficiaries the best practices for navigating Medicare. His articles are read by thousands of older Americans each month. By better understanding their health care coverage, readers may hopefully learn how to limit their out-of-pocket Medicare spending and access quality medical care.
Christian’s passion for his role stems from his desire to make a difference in the senior community. He strongly believes that the more beneficiaries know about their Medicare coverage, the better their overall health and wellness is as a result.
A current resident of Raleigh, Christian is a graduate of Shippensburg University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
If you’re a member of the media looking to connect with Christian, please don’t hesitate to email our public relations team at Mike@tzhealthmedia.com.
