Panorama/Harmony test question

lilwonder · April 2016

Little+Tiny said:

I called Panorama about it and they set everything up to get me tested on the 18th free of charge. I should get my results 25th or 26th of this month. I have no idea how I managed to do all that, but it seemed pretty easy. I went on the website and put my info in for someone to get back to me and they called me about 15 minutes later and asked me about carrier type stuff and since I have downs syndrome and some other thing (forget the name) I qualified and my insurance pays for all of it.

That's shocking (at your age), but cool none-the-less!! Great that you'll have results so soon

Little+Tiny · April 2016

I asked them about that just to double check, but their website says it's open to all ages. I was just looking out of curiosity to see what it did, but I Guess I got lucky.

KilgraveMadeMeDoIt · April 2016

Sidenote for those of us in Ontario, I checked out the forms. You can do the Panorama testing for $550 to check for trisomies 21, 18, and 13, triploidy, and sex.

Lifelabs has the patient-pay form (and the MOH fundable) form available to clinicians. I'm looking into whether any of the companies have patient pay assistance for Canadians who aren't eligible for provincial funding, but it doesn't look like it.

I personally just want to know if there's an aneuploidy as early as possible and with the IPS (which is less accurate and has more false positives) I won't have final results until probably 20w when I meet my OB. Learning the sex would just be a bonus.

ZoeFer · April 2016

@Thewizardofrhythm Yes I am from NY ! Do you know the rules in NY ? I had my first appointment with OB today and asked about this test. He says that they work with Harmony. but because I am not over 35 or high risk, the insurance would not cover it. He said that he saw some people had to pay like $250 but some up to $2000. He scheduled me for NT scanning and first trimester scanning but I know that the false positive rate is much higher in this screening compared to cfDNA tests.

Chcaggie1 · April 2016

I really think a lot of this depends on your doctor. I fairly confident my office offers panorama testing to all their patients. I remember them discussing it in the new parent class last time. I did have the test and I was 31 with my first child. Later in the pregnancy I was high risk due to fibroids but I don't think we had found those when I had the panorama test. I was originally told that insurance may not pay for the test but they did.

I'm in Texas if that makes any difference.

TwandaFTG · April 2016

I'm curious if they will offer to me. I will turn 35 the month after I deliver. But I just had a baby at 39 weeks 18 months ago. I switched obs but not the practice itself. Last time I only did the Quad Screen. Guess this a question I need to ask at my first appointment (when it finally gets here).

hollowway · April 2016

We're doing the prenatal karyotyping as well. Not sure which my MFM uses, though I asked for the MaternIT21 test. Ive had 3 losses, have a uterine anomaly and DD was born with a birth defect. Im kind of insisting that it be done this time! Plus, on top of knowing that our new LO is healthy, we get to find out the sex sooner. (Name debates suck!)

Thewizardofrhythm · April 2016

@ZoeFer I'm trying to get to the bottom of it but im finding it challenging. It has something to do with the contracted labs who perform the testing. So far, I think it's only labcorp and not everyone's insurance is contracted with them. But I'm essentially at the same stage you are with the NT scheduled and routine blood test but no script/authorization yet for cfdna. I'm meeting with the genetic counselor and I'm hoping I can convince her/him to write an authorization. That being said, there is still no guarantee insurance will cover it. But I've heard that once you get an authorization, the various providing companies will talk more candidly about how much they will charge you if your insurance won't cover. Because I guess at that point they have no liability (it's on the authorizer) and they want to sell you their product.

ZoeFer · April 2016

@Thewizardofrhythm I called my insurance and the representative said that LabCorp is in my network and I can take the Harmony test. She did not see any criteria for eligibility but I do not know if it is really correct information. I got wrong information from those representatives few times. I do not know how to double check.

Thewizardofrhythm · April 2016

@ZoeFer So I went to Labcorp today for my OB screen and they told me they do perform "the harmony kit." They said typically people come in with a doctor's authorization and a kit from the company. She did give me the number for billing to see what the cost of the lab fees (separate from the test) would be if my insurance didn't cover it. So now I feel like I am back at the beginning. Why is this so complicated? It seems the key is a doctor's authorization but that the different doctors have variable comfort levels administering these authorizations. Then, you have to determine if your insurance covers it. If not, you make some sort of deal with the test provider.

ZoeFer · April 2016

@Thewizardofrhythm I see, thank you for all the information. It is a good idea to talk to LabCorp directly. This is super complicated for me. When I talked to my OB, he seemed like he is okay with me taking the test. He was just concerned about the insurance coverage but now my insurance says that it is covered. We will see what happens

shamrocandroll · April 2016

I spoke with my OB yesterday. She said I'd have to go through my insurance co. to see what out-of-pocket costs are, but judging by how long it took me to find someone who could tell me whether or not the cystic fibrosis carrier screening was covered, I'm guessing they will be of little or no help. My OB referred me to their genetic counselor, who is supposed to call me. She says they will run me through "some of the pitfalls of the test for someone with my age and risk factors." I'm leaning more toward just not doing it, I think. I think the main reason I want it is because it's new and accurate and I'm just freaking myself out that something is going to be wrong, when there is actually very little risk of that in my case. I don't NEED it, since I'm considered low risk. If anything comes back normal from the regular ultrasound/blood test method, then maybe I'll pursue it more seriously. It just seems like it would be a nice added comfort. I'm still undecided on if I want to find out gender, so that may not even necessarily be an added benefit for me. I guess we'll see what the genetic counselor says!

TL;DR version: This is complicated, and I can't make up my mind.

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