Empower Hereditary Cancer
Screening in Miami

Most major plans cover Empower when NCCN criteria are met, such as a personal or family history of cancer. Natera bills the test to your plan after our team verifies benefits and obtains prior authorization. Prior authorization is not a guarantee of coverage. With insurance, you pay TrufaMED $205 for the Genetic Screening Visit, which we never bill to insurance. If your plan does not cover the test, the $450 all-in self-pay option is the lower-cost path. We confirm your expected total before any sample is collected.

A positive result indicates an elevated lifetime risk and does not mean a current cancer diagnosis. Your TrufaMED physician builds a personalized risk-management plan that may include enhanced imaging surveillance (such as breast MRI or transvaginal ultrasound), risk-reducing medication, surgical risk-reduction options, and coordinated referrals to oncology when indicated. We also help organize cascade testing for first-degree relatives, who each have a 50 percent chance of carrying the same variant.

Either, depending on the panel and your preference. Most adults at our Surfside clinic provide a blood sample drawn by a licensed provider during the visit. Saliva collection kits are available for select circumstances. Both methods analyze the same genes with the same accuracy.

Results typically return from the Natera laboratory in about two weeks from the date the sample is received. We schedule your results visit as soon as the signed report is available, and you review it in person or by telehealth with a board-certified physician.

Hereditary cancer screening is worth considering if you have a family history of breast, ovarian, colorectal, pancreatic, or prostate cancer, especially on the same side of the family; a personal or family cancer diagnosis before age 50; Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry (roughly 1 in 40 carry a BRCA founder mutation); two or more primary cancers or bilateral cancers; or a known cancer-predisposition gene in a close relative. Your physician confirms clinical eligibility during the consult.

A VUS is a genetic change whose clinical impact is not yet established. It is not treated as a positive result and does not change your clinical management. Variants are reclassified over time as more data accumulates, and we re-contact patients if a VUS is later reclassified.

Yes. Many guidelines recommend germline testing for any patient with a personal history of breast, ovarian, pancreatic, colorectal, or prostate cancer, regardless of family history or age at diagnosis. Results can inform treatment decisions, guide surveillance for second cancers, and open the door to cascade testing for relatives.

The difference is substantial. Direct-to-consumer ancestry tests typically genotype only a handful of common variants and can miss the large majority of clinically actionable mutations. Empower sequences every gene on the panel with next-generation sequencing, adds RNA analysis when a variant may affect splicing, and reports to clinical standards suitable for medical decision-making. It is ordered, interpreted, and acted on by a board-certified MD.

Not initially. The first step is testing the person most likely to carry a mutation, usually the relative with the youngest cancer diagnosis. Once a specific mutation is identified, single-site testing for relatives is far less expensive and is almost always covered by insurance. We help coordinate that cascade testing across the family.

The Natera laboratory is HIPAA compliant and does not share identifiable data with third parties without your consent. Federal law (GINA) prohibits employers and health insurers from using genetic test results to discriminate. GINA does not extend to life, disability, or long-term-care insurance, which is something we discuss with you before testing.