Heart & Lipids
Cheapest ApoB + Lp(a) + lipid panel: $56
By Elo. Last updated August 2026.
ApoB, Lp(a), and a standard lipid panel are the three tests a modern lipid workup rests on: the particle count that drives risk, the inherited number you measure once, and the cholesterol panel everything else is read against. Buying them separately at retail can run past $177. Bought well, the same three results cost $55.98.
What is the cheapest combination?
The cheapest way to get ApoB, Lp(a), and a lipid panel is DrSays + Precision Health Reports, $55.98 all in, split across two orders and two blood draws. The cheapest single draw is Marek Diagnostics, $74. Both are cash prices, so they are also what you pay without insurance, and both sit above Medicare's combined national rate of $48.80 for the same three CPT codes.
| Where you buy | What you order | Draws | All-in |
|---|---|---|---|
| DrSays + Precision Health ReportscheapestLabCorp network | DrSays, $31.98
Precision Health Reports, $24
| 2 | $55.98 |
| Marek Diagnostics + Precision Health ReportsQuest + LabCorp network | Marek Diagnostics, $39
Precision Health Reports, $24
| 2 | $63 |
| Marek DiagnosticsQuest network |
| 1 | $74 |
| Walk-In LabQuest network |
| 1 | $147 |
| Labcorp OnDemandLabCorp network | 1 | $177 |
All-in cash prices read from each vendor's product page, July 2026, at everyday prices rather than rotating promo codes. Draw and physician fees are charged once per order, so a single order covering all three markers pays one fee. Ulta Lab Tests sells ApoB and Lp(a) at stable prices but only lists its lipid panel at a weekly promotional price, so it is left out of the table.
Why the cheapest route takes two orders
No single vendor is cheapest at all three. DrSays sells a combined lipid panel with ApoB for $21.99, less than most labs charge for ApoB alone, but it does not sell Lp(a) at all. Precision Health Reports sells Lp(a) for $24 with no draw fee, cheaper than anyone else, but sells nothing else à la carte. Put the two together and you pay $55.98 for results that cost $177 at Labcorp's own storefront.
The cost of that is a second trip. Both orders draw at Labcorp locations, but they are separate requisitions, so a phlebotomist will not run them off one tube. If the extra visit is worth more to you than the $18.02 you save, Marek Diagnostics does all three in one order for $74.
The split also ages well. Lp(a) is measured once in a lifetime, so the second order is a one-time purchase; repeat testing is just the $31.98 lipid-plus-ApoB order.
What each test costs on its own
Buying the three legs separately, at each marker's cheapest standalone price:
- ApoB test cost: from $25 on its own, and up to $221 inside Quest's Advanced Heart Health Panel, the only way Quest's own consumer site sells it.
- Lp(a) test cost: from $24 on its own, $51 at Quest.
- Lipid panel cost (total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides): from $19 all in at Marek, $39 at Walk-In Lab, $59 at Labcorp OnDemand.
Ordering three markers separately means paying three draw fees, which is why the combined orders in the table beat the sum of the individual cheapest prices.
What insurance pays
The three legs are treated very differently. The lipid panel (CPT 80061) is a USPSTF-backed screening test, so ACA plans generally cover it at $0 for eligible adults, and Medicare pays $13.39 once every five years. ApoB (82172) and Lp(a) (83695) are excluded for asymptomatic screening under Medicare LCD L36358, and the major commercial payers follow it.
That is why cash is often the right call here. A denied screening claim leaves you on the hook for the lab's billed charge, which at a hospital lab runs $80 to $600 for ApoB and $75 to $400 for Lp(a). Both figures are far above the $55.98 you would pay for all three tests up front.
If you also want vitamin D, hs-CRP, and a metabolic panel
Those three are the most common additions to a heart workup, and they are cheap to bolt on because the draw fee is charged per order, not per test. Adding all three takes the cheapest build from $55.98 to $99.95, and the cheapest single draw from $74 to $138.
| Where you buy | What you order | Draws | All-in |
|---|---|---|---|
| DrSays + Precision Health ReportscheapestLabCorp network | DrSays, $75.95
Precision Health Reports, $24
| 2 | $99.95 |
| Marek Diagnostics + Precision Health ReportsQuest + LabCorp network | Marek Diagnostics, $103
Precision Health Reports, $24
| 2 | $127 |
| Marek DiagnosticsQuest network |
| 1 | $138 |
| Walk-In LabQuest network |
| 1 | $274 |
Two substitutions are worth knowing about. Marek does not sell a basic metabolic panel, only a Comprehensive Metabolic Panel, which is a superset at the same $9, so that is what we price. Labcorp OnDemand is left out entirely: it charges $99 for vitamin D on its own, which puts it out of contention before the rest of the order.
This is where the arithmetic starts to turn. At three tests, the cheapest direct-to-consumer build costs a third of Empirical Health's Comprehensive Health Panel. At six, the panel is only 1.9x the price, and it returns 100 markers instead of the roughly 16 individual results these six orders produce. Keep adding markers and the full panel wins outright.
When a full panel makes more sense
If you want more than these three markers, the full-panel providers include all three inside much larger packages. Cheapest first:
- Empirical Health, Comprehensive Health Panel: $190
- Mito Health, Core Panel: $349
- WHOOP Advanced Labs, Advanced Labs (Annual): $349
- Function Health, Annual Membership: $365
The cheapest of those is 3x the price of the three tests bought on their own, so it only pays off if you actually want the rest of the panel and the interpretation that comes with it. You can compare the full panels side by side if that is the direction you are leaning.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest way to test ApoB, Lp(a), and a lipid panel together?
DrSays + Precision Health Reports, for $55.98 all in. DrSays sells a combined lipid panel with ApoB for $21.99 plus a $9.99 collection fee, and Precision Health Reports sells Lp(a) on its own for $24 with no draw fee. Both run on the Labcorp network, but they are two separate orders, so you make two visits. If you would rather do it in one draw, Marek Diagnostics covers all three for $74.
Can I get all three tests in one blood draw?
Yes. Marek Diagnostics sells all three as one order for $74, with its draw fee charged once rather than per test. Walk-In Lab and Labcorp OnDemand also sell all three in a single order, at higher prices. Any vendor that sells the three markers can run them off the same tube of blood, so you never need a separate draw per marker within one order.
Does insurance cover ApoB and Lp(a)?
The lipid panel usually is covered: it is a USPSTF-backed screening test, so most ACA plans pay it at $0 for eligible adults. ApoB and Lp(a) usually are not. Medicare's LCD L36358 explicitly excludes both for asymptomatic screening, and major commercial payers follow it, which means a screening order can leave you paying the lab's billed charge, often several hundred dollars at a hospital lab. Paying cash at a direct-to-consumer lab is frequently cheaper than being billed through insurance for these two.
Do I need to fast before these tests?
Lp(a) and ApoB do not require fasting. The lipid panel traditionally does, 9 to 12 hours, because LDL is usually calculated from triglycerides, though non-fasting panels are increasingly accepted for routine screening. If you are ordering all three together, fast for the lipid panel and the other two are unaffected.
How often should I repeat these tests?
Lp(a) is largely genetic and stable across your lifetime, so the 2026 ACC/AHA dyslipidemia guideline recommends measuring it once in adulthood. ApoB and the lipid panel track your current risk and response to treatment, so they are repeated, often annually or a few months after a change in diet or medication. That asymmetry is why the split order can make sense: you buy Lp(a) once and re-buy the cheap lipid-plus-ApoB order thereafter.
What if I also want vitamin D, hs-CRP, and a metabolic panel?
Adding those three costs less than you would expect, because the draw fee is charged once per order rather than per test. The cheapest six-test build is DrSays + Precision Health Reports at $99.95, up from $55.98 for the three core tests. The cheapest six-test single draw is Marek Diagnostics at $138. At that point a full panel starts to compete: Empirical Health's Comprehensive Health Panel is $190 for 100 markers.
Is a full health panel a better deal than buying the three tests?
Only if you want the other markers. Empirical Health's Comprehensive Health Panel at $190 is the cheapest bundle we track that covers all three, and it includes dozens of other markers, but it is more than three times the $55.98 you would pay for these three alone.