I recently got my shingles shot. I must have been asked 6 times when I made the appointment, the clinic when I checked in, the doctor and his nurse if I had contacted my insurance company in advance to get their approval/assurance they would pay for it. I had called them in advance and it was pre-approved. I suspect that my MD was being proactive in advising me to get insurance pre-approval since as others have mentioned it is about $200. (This is also the case with Medicare which will cover the cost only under pharmacy coverage (Part D) and not Part B for clinic services.) Perhaps he had patients in the past that thought their health insurance would cover it and later discovered this was not the case and complained to the clinic.
Part of my reason for getting the shot was that my mother had shingles at about 70 years of age around the bottom of her ribcage and I remember the the pain she experienced for several weeks.
