Is a dexa every 2 years enough?

Medicare will pay for the scans every year provided you are actively being treated for bone loss. I have osteopenia which would normally not be covered (annually) nor would the drug to treat it, but because I am using an AI which can cause bone loss the drug is covered. Because I'm being treated for bone loss, the scan is covered annually.

Same here in Australia. But I'm thinking of getting a DEXA scan every six months even if I have to pay for it. Might be a tad childish but I want to see concrete results for all this slogging away at the gym twice a week doing a variant of the Onera program. (I'm 76 with osteopenia and taking anastrozole. )

in order for Medicare to pay with greater frequency, i believe the RX needs to sat “medically necessary” and the record must be well documented as to why its medically necessary

As a former Medicare fraud investigator i will share my perspective……physicians are under intense scrutiny….if they order non-standard tests they can end up being investigated for abusive billing practices

If you want an atypical test and your dr refuses, you have a couple choices: 1. go to a dr who you know if prescribing it with some level of frequency or 2. offer to pay out of pocket

@me49, Speaking of, this is also true for the P1NP and the CTX blood tests - if rejected, the MD has to be willing to appeal with "medically necessary" --- mine would not so I changed MDsme49 Speaking of, this is also true for the P1NP and the CTX blood tests - if rejected, the MD has to be willing to appeal with "medically necessary" --- mine would not so I changed MDs.

Good morning, freckle1,
Bones don't grow very quickly, and you might not be able to see changes yearly. You might want to ask your doctor for repeat blood testing every 3 or 6 months that examines blood markers that reflect bone growth or loss. That may give you a better idea if the medication is working. Best wishes for good health.

@dlmdinia I don't know what codes the doctor uses but I've been getting a DXA scan pretty much every year for 4 years now. Maybe just my bad numbers are enough to make that get approved by traditional Medicare but the doctor does not expect any problem and there hasn't been any problem getting reimbursed. I have paid myself once when I wanted to know what was happening sooner than 1 year. I was not being actively treated during that time period. No meds until after the last DXA.

Good morning, freckle1,
Bones don't grow very quickly, and you might not be able to see changes yearly. You might want to ask your doctor for repeat blood testing every 3 or 6 months that examines blood markers that reflect bone growth or loss. That may give you a better idea if the medication is working. Best wishes for good health.

@me49 If you don't see changes it would be because your bones haven't changed very much. That could be good in some situations or bad in others. If you are taking an anabolic like Evenity and you do not have a change on your DXA in the one year on the med then that is bad. You want that bone growth. If you wait two years to check and see the results of one year on Evenity then you will not know for sure what Evenity did for you. The effect of the Evenity will be mixed up with the effect of the follow up drug or with whatever bone loss you have if you don't use a follow up med. You won't know whether you might want to try Evenity again in the future.

Also what if you are losing bone. My bone density has been going down for years. In one 16 month period I lost almost 10% in both my total hip scores. Knowing that spurred me to action. There can be lots of change in bone for good or bad in one year. I'm not saying everyone needs a DXA every year, not at all, but depending on your individual situation a scan every year may be just what's needed.

The studies done on these meds sometimes do DXA's at 6 months then again at a year. For that matter studies on exercise programs will do DXA's at anywhere from 6 months to a year. The LIFTMOR studies done in Australia showing good bone growth with an resistance exercise program measured bone density with DXA's at 8 months. Bone markers may be used in these studies in addition to the DXAs but they cannot replace the DXA.

The reason we hear this "you only need a scan every two years" is to save money. It is not a recommendation made with an individuals best interest in mind.