Medicare only pays for one AC1 test every 3 months?

[Peregrine Took]

My husband had a high blood sugar reading on a blood panel test and is now pricking his finger every morning getting different results. His doc today told him he has to come back when the 3 months are up.

He's going to an internist but I think he should go to a endocrinologist.

Thanks.

[rsdsharp]

1. Yes. It kind of makes sense since an A1C is a measure of blood sugar over 90 days.

That said, I went to my doctor just short of the 90 days and was told the same thing. I didn’t want to have to come back in a few days, and just paid the cost of the test out of pocket. It was $30.

[hippywife]

2. A1C.

It covers it every three months because the test is a three month average, so there's no sense in doing it more often than that.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

3. The A1c

Measures your overall blood sugar levels based on the turnover of your red blood cells. When the old cells die off at around 3 months you can detect the average by testing the sugar level of the new cells.
So 2-3 months could be a little soon,based on the turnover of the blood cells.

[jimfields33]

4. Excellent that 90 days is the magic number. Good for the doctor.

Sounds like a brilliant well informed doctor. Knows how things work.

[Warpy]

5. Frequent A1C testing doesn't tell you much

since this is a lab value that takes a long time to budge. It reflects a long term trend rather than short term changes. His glucose levels will tell you if the short term changes are having a good effect.

That's why the standard of care is to check the A1C every three months.

An internist is perfectly capable of caring for a type II diabetic who is keeping his sugar under decent control and can be one stop shopping for a variety of other issues. An endocrinologist needs to be brought in when sugar is resistant to control or is being controlled but with periods of bottoming out. Complications such as foot ulcers or kidney disease also mean it's endocrinologist time. An endocrinologist might be brought in if he's hospitalized with an infection, something that increases blood sugar levels and makes them more difficult to control temporarily.

Most uncomplicated cases of Type II diabetes never require an endocrinologist. If one is indicated, his internist will be the first to know.