Introduction
Hi, I’m Dr. Caplan from Helios Telemedicine for Men.
Last week I talked about the various venues where you can get diagnosis and treatment of symptomatic testosterone deficiency. Today it will be a comparison of the costs of the medications used in prescription-based treatments. I am physician, not an accountant, so the numbers may be imprecise. Second, I used an app called GoodRx to get most of my medication price figures. The prices are for cash-pay customers and your insurance company-agreed prices may be different. What I couldn’t get from GoodRx, I got using a Google search or calling a pharmacy.
Pricing Overview
The prices are the cost by the month, are based on the recommended starting dosages, and are for the generic varieties when I could find them or name brand where no generic is available. The prices may change as we adjust the dosage to find the best one for you; so the numbers are gross estimates of the cost to you. Insurance-contracted prices are different and I’m not going to even try to estimate the costs of the vitamins or supplements that you can get from the marketplace.
Testosterone can be administered in so many ways that pricing it can be confusing, but here goes. The least expensive for the actual medication is the injectable testosterone cypionate at $20 for the SQ and $40 for the IM dosages. There may be an additional cost for supplies. In order of increasing cost for the rest are orally dissolving troches at $30, cutaneously applied gels and creams from $100-150, the nasal gel at $190, bioidentical pellets for $275+, transdermal patches at $650, orally dissolving tablets at $830, and swallowed tablets at $930 per month. That means that if we lump them all together, the annual cost of testosterone varies from $240 for the SQ injectable up to $11,160 for the oral tablets. I mention this lump sum cost range for when I try to put these figures with last week’s costs.
Other medications associated with the therapy of testosterone deficiency include clomiphene at $22, Anastrozole at $6, and HCG at $110/month.
If you didn’t see my video last week, these figures may seem like they are coming from thin air, but they really aren’t. Therapy with clomiphene is significantly lower than with testosterone, but are not presented here. Add about $360/year to last week’s numbers and you have it.
The following figures are the sums for the cost of the venues from last week plus the sums for the injectable forms of testosterone therapy without add-ons. You can take off some of the medication costs from all but the telemedicine-based subscription companies if your insurance company pays for some of the cost of the testosterone. You should add about $1320 to each of these estimates if you also take HCG for fertility or to prevent testicular shrinkage, $264 if clomiphene is used with the testosterone, and $72 if we go with Anastrozole for control of estradiol.
OK, so, for a PCP/Specialist with injectable testosterone, the annual cost would vary depending on factors such as whether they are using IM or SQ injections and whether they are injecting weekly at the office or letting you inject yourself at home. It can range from $1540 to $3520 in year one and from $1440 to $3360 in subsequent years. Facility-based men’s health clinics charge about $50/200mg injection so with that dose of testosterone, it would be about $3719 to $4739. For the internet-based subscription companies it would be about $1440 to $1800, but with more limited choices, a longer time to find the best dose, upcharges if the dosage goes over their standard dose, and less frequent follow-up. At Helios, with SQ injected testosterone, it would be $1499 in year one and $676 in subsequent years, but without the travel or waiting room time and you would consistently see me for each appointment.
Conclusion
Look, the price to correct your testosterone deficiency is not inconsiderable in each of these venues, but the effect on your health and wellbeing is remarkable. Helios Telemedicine for Men is a great mix of competitive price, consistent expertise throughout the process, available treatment options, time-efficiency, privacy, and convenience. The choice is yours.
Until next week, please check out my website at www.heliostelemedicine.com to see my prior videos and blog posts and find links to articles and papers that go into even more depth, to take a complimentary self-assessment survey, or make an appointment to see me. Thanks for your time and attention. Bye for now.
