A friend told me that allergy drops under the tongue are not covered by insurance. Does my insurance cover allergy shots as a treatment?

Unlike sublingual drops, allergy shots are an FDA approved therapy and are covered by the vast majority of insurance plans. They are also covered by Medicare and Medicaid. In fact published economic studies demonstrate that allergy shots can yield savings to insurance plans by reducing the number of sick visits and medications used over a 5 year period. Allergy shots also become less expensive over time as the number of shot visits and amount of extract purchased decreases year after year. Obviously once the shots are discontinued the benefit goes on for years after at no additional cost. Drops under the tongue are done daily for years, do not spread out over time, do not decrease in cost to the patient over time, and may not give lasting benefit after they are discontinued. The proper dose of sublingual drops is a big issue as 28% of studies of sublingual drops show no benefit at all to the patient. This is not the case with allergy shots as the proper dose has been established for ...  more