Provider Updates for August 2026
Healthfirst's Allergen Testing policy (PO-RE-059v6) is effective August 1, 2026. Specific IgE in-vitro allergy testing, up to 20 allergen-specific antibodies per year, meets coverage criteria when the allergens are chosen based on history, physical examination and environment, and total serum IgE meets criteria for moderate to severe asthma or signs or symptoms of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. Testing that does not meet coverage criteria includes specific IgE testing performed on the same day as skin prick testing, routine re-testing of the same allergens without a new clinical presentation, ALCAT, IgG, IgA, IgM and IgD testing for allergy signs or symptoms, basophil activation flow cytometry, bead-based epitope assays such as VeriMAP Peanut Dx, and qualitative multi-allergen screens that do not identify a specific allergen.