Sublingual Immunotherapy Cost
If you’re pondering allergy drops as an alternative to allergy shots, you are probably familiar with a few of the advantages. Like shots, the drops are a form of immunotherapy. (Shots are subcutaneous immunotherapy, drops are sublingual immunotherapy.) Drops, however, can be taken at home as opposed to shots that must be given at the doctor’s office. Allergy drops are safer and can be prescribed to younger children than shots can. And, of course, drops don’t hurt since they are simply dispensed as liquid under the tongue rather than delivered through injections.
Like allergy shots, doctors can prescribe allergy drops for dog and cat allergies as well as pollen, dust and mold allergies. Another perk of allergy drops is that they can also be prescribed for treatment of food allergies including milk, wheat and nut allergies.
The Cost of Allergy Drops
In spite of the advantages of allergy drops, some people bypass them because they believe that allergy shots are cheaper. That is not necessarily the case, though. Regardless of whether you are getting injections or under-the-tongue drops, most insurance plans offer benefits for allergy testing as well as for initial and follow-up visits with the doctor. However, when it comes to the actual allergy antigen (the liquid that helps desensitize your body to allergens), some insurance companies will deny payment if it is administered through drops rather than injections. But before you declare shots the most economical, consider these hidden costs of shots:
- Travel costs. Since shots have to be given at the doctor’s office, consider the gas costs as well as the cost of your time in traveling to and from the physician’s office a couple times a week.
- Co-Pays. Insurance plans often require a co-pay with each shot. Since shots are often given at least two times per week, co-pays can add up.
If you think allergy drops are the right choice for you, talk to your physician about the cost of sublingual immunotherapy. Many physicians offer cash-pay discounts for patients who do not have insurance benefits to defray the cost of allergy drops.
Call AllergyEasy about allergy drops for kids and adults, and find out how to work the cost of allergy drops into your budget.