If you are do not feel well you go to a doctor to get treatment. If your symptoms are unclear you doctor may send you to get diagnostic testing to determine the causes for your sickness. The standard health insurance policy will provide payment or reimbursement for patients that are sent for testing by their primary care provider. However, these tests are costly and are the reason why many health premiums are on the rise. Although they can be a good indicator of disease and help to provide information as to the status of the illness these tests are not always accurate.

Diagnostic testing pricing is rising due to the cost of the equipment needed to perform the procedures. The people that are needed to operate the machinery must be trained and certified and require competitive wages. All of these costs are combined and invoiced against the health insurance policy for payment. Many of the fees involved are not fully covered by the policy and end up being paid out of pocket by the patient. To recoup the costs for these procedures insurance carriers raise premiums or request prior approval before approving payment.

Although medical technology gains have been made with the use of x-rays, cat scans, magnetic resonance imaging, and pet scans many times they are not always accurate. Sometimes they often provide a false positive result. A diagnosis is provided for a disease that the patient may not have. This will require additional testing or a biopsy in which a quick surgery is done to remove a portion of the person to observe and test under a microscope for final analysis. Many insurance companies find that the testing will end up creating the need for more testing and not less.

As lawsuits rise for doctors they are relying on diagnostic testing to prevent a faulty diagnosis. Many will use this as a back up or reference for their decisions in surgery, and medical treatment. When a person is unknown of their ailment it is prescribed to discover the illness. If a disease is found it is also used to track the progress. If the illness is treated it is then used to ensure that the patient is free from the illness. Each stage of the person's disease is monitored and charged against the health insurance policy.

As recourse against the high cost of testing, many insurance companies are denying testing for procedures. Many older standards such as breast cancer prescribe a diagnostic test at the age of 40. Many health carriers are now questioning the accuracy of doing so. They are eliminating some procedures to control costs.