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How Much Does a Dermatologist Cost? What To Expect With and Without Insurance

Learn more about what a dermatology appointment might cost you, including with or without insurance and telemedicine options.

Read on

Most people make trips to the dermatologist far less often than visits to their general practitioner. So, many people may not be aware of the potential costs of dermatology appointments, or how much to budget for if you are paying out of pocket.

The costs of any kind of doctor’s appointment will be vastly different if you have insurance vs. if you do not have insurance.

Below, we will cover some of the basics of dermatology appointments and what sorts of price tags you might expect from seeing a dermatologist.

This will include potential costs for people with insurance vs. those who are uninsured, what sorts of factors may contribute to one office being more or less expensive, and also vaguely what to expect cost-wise from any dermatology prescriptions you may need.

Learn More: How Does Tretinoin Cream Improve Your Skin?

Potential dermatology appointment costs with insurance


If you have insurance, the best way to approximate how much your dermatology visit might cost is to review your insurance documentation or contact your insurance provider. 

Your insurance will often offer some guidance as far as your potential appointment copay for a dermatology appointment.

The costs may even differ depending on if certain providers are within your network.

If you are unsure where to start here, logging into your insurance portal, or talking with an insurance representative may help you narrow down dermatology offices in your area that work best with your specific plan.



Potential dermatology appointment costs without insurance


If you do not currently have insurance, you may find yourself needing to gauge the approximate fee for an out-of-pocket visit.

In general, an office visit at a dermatologist may run starting at around $100 up to $200 or more depending on the office you select.

In order to help narrow this range down, you should be able to ask the office directly by calling or stopping by about what a visit will cost for someone with no insurance.

You may also be able to ask if they offer payment plans to help out-of-pocket payers.

Keep in mind that the fee for the office visit itself will likely not factor in the cost for any tests that need to be performed, procedures needed, or medications required for treatment.

Also Read: Can You Buy Tretinoin Over The Counter?

What factors may determine how much a dermatology appointment costs

If you are planning on paying out-of-pocket for your dermatology appointment, you may be able to approximate if an office visit will be on the lower or higher end of the pricing spectrum by considering a few factors.


Location

The cost of living in your area may be reflected in the prices you find at your local dermatology offices. In general, areas with a higher cost of living will be more expensive. Offices in larger cities will often also be pricier than offices in a small town. 


Local competition

Places that have a lot of dermatology offices competing for customers may have slightly lower prices due to the need to entice patients that have a lot of choices. However, if there is only one dermatology office in town, they may have less incentive to offer competitive rates.


Specialty

A general dermatology practice will often be less expensive than an office that deals with less common, difficult to treat, or niche skin conditions.


Required testing

At your first dermatology visit, the doctor will speak with you about the issue and may decide that some testing needs to be done to figure out the diagnosis and treatment plan. In this situation, you will often see the additional fees for any testing required on top of the visit cost.


Required treatments

If your skin issue requires a procedure or in-office treatment, this will also increase the cost of the overall care. Your doctor will likely review any additional costs of procedures with you beforehand.


Follow-up visits

Not all skincare issues can be taken care of in just one visit. You may require multiple follow-up visits for procedures, treatments, or periodic check-ups to see how any required medications are working. Follow-up visits tend to require an additional visit fee each time.

Read Related: Mild, Moderate, and Severe Acne: How To Tell Acne Severity Levels

Dermatology medication costs with and without insurance


If you require a medication from a pharmacy to treat your skincare issue like a prescription retinoid, antibiotic, steroid, or other common dermatology medications, this will also be an additional fee on top of your office visit.

If you have insurance, the medication may be covered, it may require a copay, or it may not be covered by your insurance at all.

Once you know the medication you need, your pharmacy or insurance should be able to let you know the price to expect.

If you do not have insurance, the medication costs may be much more expensive out-of-pocket.

Ask your pharmacy what the price of the medication will be without insurance. Different pharmacies may have different prices for cash-paying customers.


Strut Health free online telemedicine visits for common skin concerns


Here at Strut Health, we understand the unknowns and unexpected costs that may come from getting dermatology treatments. Office visit costs, plus medication costs, as well as lost wages from taking time off work to attend the appointment can add up and quickly be more expensive than you expected.

To help make the full costs of common dermatology treatments more transparent, we offer an easy one-cost system where we display the exact prices for medications, while offering free online telemedicine visits, and free medication shipping.

At Strut, we do not treat more complicated or complex dermatology issues that require extensive testing or an in-person visit. But, we can help out with common and irritating skin situations like acne, scars, melasma, rosacea, cold sores, or fine lines and signs of skin aging.

If you are dealing with deepening forehead lines that you would like to get control of, rosacea flare-ups, or acne that isn’t responding to over-the-counter treatments, Strut Health may be a fast, easy, and affordable way to get professional dermatology care. 

If you are interested in trying out Strut for your skin concerns, you can browse our treatment categories and have a free online questionnaire and image-based telemedicine consultation today.

If you are a good candidate for treatment through our secure telemedicine platform, your medication will be shipped to your front door with our free shipping.


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