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It's worse than even described. I can get a PSA test done at a local lab for just over $100. I would gladly pay the hundred bucks to get the test done on a schedule that I and my doctor think is best.

It is ILLEGAL for the lab to conduct the test, unless it is prescribed by a doctor. It's ILLEGAL for the doctor to prescribe a test for me to pay for by myself under Medicare rules. Thus, the only tests that I can legally have are at a rate dictated by some bureaucrats in Washington DC regardless of what my doctor and I think is best.

It is ILLEGAL for the lab to conduct the test, unless it is prescribed by a doctor. It's ILLEGAL for the doctor to prescribe a test for me to pay for by myself under Medicare rules.

Wait, what?

I still have private insurance so getting a PSA test hasn't been a problem, and it's covered under my insurance.

My first PSA test eight years ago was a 5.0, so I got a biopsy and they found nothing. Since then I've been getting a PSA every year and all the results have been between 5.0 and 7.4. The last couple of years they did an MRI and found nothing.

So I'm okay for now, but I wonder what will happen when I retire and I'm using medicare.

You're saying that it would be illegal for me to get a PSA??