How Much Do Weekly Allergy Shots Cost During Build-Up Phase?
Weekly build-up visits cost $11.97 Medicare-allowed (CPT 95117, CMS 2025 PFS), but 26 visits × $42 average specialist copay stacks to $1,092 before maintenance begins — plus ~$139 per vial-prep event and $928 in opportunity cost for 39 hours of Year-1 clinic time at the BLS median wage. Curex at-home IgE testing replaces the first-visit skin-test copay event, and Curex's at-home allergy shots at $129/month eliminate 26 weekly clinic trips entirely.
Plus the commute, copays, and facility fees that swing with your plan and state.
No copays, no facility fees, no commute. HSA/FSA eligible · cancel anytime.
The real CPT codes — what your allergist actually charges.
No competitor shows you this. Every shot visit triggers 1–3 CPT codes. Knowing them lets you audit your bill, negotiate cash pay, and verify what insurance covers.
Ranges reflect median commercial allowed amounts (CMS Physician Fee Schedule, MGMA Cost Survey). Your actual amount depends on your plan's in-network rates and deductible status.
Forget decoding CPT codes — Curex is one flat $129/month.
No 95115, 95117, or 95165 line items to reconcile. One membership covers your serum, dosing, and allergist oversight.
How Curex worksThe real cost in two phases — most articles miss the spike.
Allergy shots split into a costly build-up (6–12 months of frequent visits) and a cheaper maintenance phase. Lumping them gives misleading 'per-month' figures.
No front-loaded build-up bill — the rate never changes.
Conventional shots spike in year one during build-up. With Curex you pay the same $129 every month, build-up or maintenance.
How Curex worksThe hidden costs disappear when you dose at home.
No commute, no missed work, no parking — your weekly injection takes minutes in your own kitchen.
How Curex worksCoverage by major plan — searchable, with copays.
Most articles say 'it depends on your plan.' We list the actual coverage policy for each major carrier.
No prior auth, no claims, no EOBs to chase.
Curex isn't billed through insurance — so there's nothing to pre-authorize and no surprise denials. Just $129/mo, HSA/FSA eligible.
How Curex worksAllergy shot cost in all 50 states — searchable, sortable.
Cost-of-living and local provider density both shift the price. We pulled medians from CMS/MGMA + commercial payer data.
Hawaii HI | $155 | $2,170 | 184 |
California CA | $145 | $2,030 | 148 |
New York NY | $145 | $2,030 | 125 |
District of Columbia DC | $145 | $2,030 | 159 |
Massachusetts MA | $138 | $1,932 | 138 |
Connecticut CT | $130 | $1,820 | 122 |
New Jersey NJ | $128 | $1,792 | 117 |
Alaska AK | $120 | $1,680 | 125 |
Maryland MD | $118 | $1,652 | 119 |
New Hampshire NH | $115 | $1,610 | 109 |
Rhode Island RI | $115 | $1,610 | 110 |
Washington WA | $115 | $1,610 | 113 |
Delaware DE | $110 | $1,540 | 105 |
Oregon OR | $110 | $1,540 | 113 |
Colorado CO | $108 | $1,512 | 105 |
Vermont VT | $108 | $1,512 | 116 |
Illinois IL | $105 | $1,470 | 96 |
Minnesota MN | $102 | $1,428 | 95 |
Maine ME | $100 | $1,400 | 113 |
Nevada NV | $100 | $1,400 | 102 |
Pennsylvania PA | $100 | $1,400 | 98 |
Virginia VA | $100 | $1,400 | 101 |
Florida FL | $98 | $1,372 | 101 |
Michigan MI | $96 | $1,344 | 91 |
Wisconsin WI | $96 | $1,344 | 94 |
Arizona AZ | $95 | $1,330 | 102 |
Texas TX | $95 | $1,330 | 92 |
North Carolina NC | $92 | $1,288 | 95 |
Wyoming WY | $92 | $1,288 | 93 |
Georgia GA | $90 | $1,260 | 95 |
Montana MT | $90 | $1,260 | 95 |
North Dakota ND | $90 | $1,260 | 95 |
Ohio OH | $90 | $1,260 | 92 |
South Carolina SC | $90 | $1,260 | 95 |
Utah UT | $90 | $1,260 | 102 |
Alabama AL | $88 | $1,232 | 86 |
Idaho ID | $88 | $1,232 | 94 |
Indiana IN | $88 | $1,232 | 91 |
Louisiana LA | $88 | $1,232 | 93 |
Missouri MO | $88 | $1,232 | 89 |
Nebraska NE | $88 | $1,232 | 92 |
Tennessee TN | $88 | $1,232 | 92 |
Kansas KS | $86 | $1,204 | 89 |
New Mexico NM | $86 | $1,204 | 88 |
South Dakota SD | $86 | $1,204 | 92 |
Iowa IA | $85 | $1,190 | 90 |
Kentucky KY | $84 | $1,176 | 91 |
Oklahoma OK | $84 | $1,176 | 87 |
Arkansas AR | $82 | $1,148 | 84 |
West Virginia WV | $82 | $1,148 | 87 |
Mississippi MS | $80 | $1,120 | 84 |
Your ZIP code doesn't change the price.
Clinic costs swing by hundreds of dollars across states and facilities. Curex is the same flat $129/month everywhere we operate.
How Curex worksWhat patients actually paid — de-identified EOBs.
Every other article quotes ranges. We show you the real explanation-of-benefits documents — what was billed, what insurance paid, what the patient owed.
EOB image redacted
Build-up weekly visit at a New York allergist, Aetna PPO with specialist copay plan, 2024. CPT 95117 billed for a two-injection weekly build-up visit; Aetna applied its contracted rate (PayerPrice national average $15.98 for CPT 95117). Patient owed $15 specialist copay. This is Case 4 (REPRESENTATIVE — anchored to PayerPrice Aetna 95117 average). Over 26 build-up visits at this copay level, the patient accumulates $390 in stacked copays before entering maintenance phase.
- Billed by provider
- $95
- Paid by insurance
- $21
- Patient owed
- $15
EOB image redacted
Build-up visit at a Texas allergist, BCBS HDHP with deductible already met in 2024, two vials prepared on the same day as the injection. CPT 95117 × 1 plus CPT 95165 × 20 doses billed; BCBS applied its contracted rate. BCBS paid 80% coinsurance; patient owed $61.45 (20%). This is Case 3 (REPRESENTATIVE — anchored to Medicare PFS 95165 $14.65 × 20 doses plus 95117 $12.32 with commercial uplift). Post-deductible HDHPs are not punishingly expensive for SCIT — but the pre-deductible weeks earlier in build-up are a different story.
- Billed by provider
- $710
- Paid by insurance
- $246
- Patient owed
- $61
EOB image redacted
Routine allergy testing at Geisinger Scenery Park in Pennsylvania, 2026, at an HOPD-classified clinic. Office visit plus skin testing plus facility fee generated a patient-owed amount of $1,711 for a single visit. This is Case 15 (REAL): Sze Wing Yu, as reported by WPSU Public Radio in 'Facility Fees, Part 1' (March 24, 2026). Applied to a 26-visit build-up schedule at HOPD-level billing, this upper-bound exposure is the mechanism behind Tkacz 2021's 23.9% non-completion rate — patients facing thousands per visit during build-up drop out before reaching the clinical benefit of maintenance.
- Billed by provider
- $0
- Paid by insurance
- $0
- Patient owed
- $1,711
Allergy immunotherapy, built for home — one flat $129/month.
Curex brings the proven science of allergy shots into your home and wraps it in one predictable membership. No per-visit billing to decode, no facility fees, no surprise statements — you know exactly what you pay before you start.
Billed monthly · HSA/FSA eligible · cancel anytime
- Personalized serum compounded to USP <797> sterile standards
- Weekly subcutaneous injection you give yourself at home
- Your first injection and every dose change supervised live over video
- Board-certified allergist oversight by telehealth
- A prescribed epinephrine auto-injector confirmed on hand before your first dose
- 1A board-certified allergist designs your plan
You complete testing, then an allergist builds your personalized immunotherapy prescription — the same subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) science used in clinics for decades.
- 2Your first injection is supervised live over video
You give your first dose at home on a live video visit, and every time your dose steps up it is re-supervised — so you are never escalating alone.
- 3You continue weekly at home
Serum arrives on a schedule, you self-inject on your own time, and your allergist keeps oversight by telehealth. No commute, no waiting room.
Before your first dose, Curex confirms you have a prescribed epinephrine auto-injector on hand. Doses escalate gradually, week by week, with a board-certified allergist overseeing your progress throughout.
Same proven science — a very different bill.
Conventional clinic shots and Curex are both subcutaneous immunotherapy. The difference is where you do it, how you pay, and what it costs you in time and surprises.
Honest take: if you have a generous PPO that covers immunotherapy in full after a low deductible, a clinic can cost less per year than $129/month. Curex's edge is predictability, zero commute, and no facility-fee surprises — not a guaranteed lower sticker price.
What a clinic actually costs you — then compare flat $129/mo.
Adjust your insurance plan, distance to clinic, and time off work. We model the full 3-year clinic out-of-pocket — visits, copays, travel, and time — against Curex's flat monthly rate.
Your real clinic cost vs. flat $129/mo
Based on real CPT 95115 / 95117 / 95165 billing data, not generic price ranges.
- Medical & insurance
- $3,771
- Time at clinic (122 hr)
- $3,050
- Travel & gas
- $307
- Membership ($129/mo)
- $4,644
- Clinic time (at home)
- $0
- Travel & gas
- $0
Time at clinic valued at $25/hr opportunity cost (national median wage). Direct medical costs from CMS Physician Fee Schedule + commercial payer data. Travel at $0.21/mi (gas + wear).
Frequently asked questions
How much does one weekly allergy shot appointment cost during build-up?
A single weekly build-up visit typically bills CPT 95117 (2+ allergen injection), with Medicare-allowed $11.97 in 2025 per CMS CY 2025 PFS Final Rule (FR Doc 2024-25382). Commercial PPO patients with a met deductible pay a specialist copay of $15–$40; HDHP patients pre-deductible owe the full allowed amount (~$16–$35 for injection alone, or $60–$200+ if a vial is also prepared that day). Cash retail at a freestanding clinic runs $25–$55 for CPT 95117. On vial-prep days — roughly every 6 months in maintenance but more frequently during early build-up due to dilution stability limits — CPT 95165 is also billed at $13.91/dose Medicare-allowed ($139.10 for a 10-dose vial), making those visits significantly more expensive.
How many weekly injections does the build-up phase require?
The conventional build-up protocol described in Cox 2011 Practice Parameter Third Update (J Allergy Clin Immunol 2011;127[1 Suppl]:S1-S55) — the operative US guideline per CMS LCD L36240 — calls for approximately 24–28 weekly injections over 3–6 months before transitioning to maintenance every 2–4 weeks. Year 1 therefore totals approximately 26 build-up visits plus 13 early-maintenance visits, for roughly 39 total Year-1 visits compared to 14–20 visits per year in Years 2–5. The rapid dose escalation during build-up is what drives the per-week frequency; each visit is required to hold the dose for a fixed interval before advancing to the next dose level.
What is the 30-minute observation wait after an allergy shot and why does it matter for cost?
The 20–30-minute post-injection observation period is mandated by the AAAAI position statement on immunotherapy safety and is encoded in Cox 2011 Practice Parameter Third Update and FDA-licensed extract package inserts (e.g., Greer Standardized Grass Pollen, license #308). It exists because most systemic allergic reactions to immunotherapy occur within this window. From a cost perspective, it means a weekly build-up visit realistically consumes 45–90 minutes of total time (10–15 min check-in, 5 min injection, 30 min mandatory wait, plus round-trip travel). At the BLS OEWS May 2024 US median wage of $23.80/hr, 26 weekly build-up visits × 90 min = 39 hours of clinic time, representing approximately $928 in opportunity cost — more than many patients' total copay exposure for the build-up year.
Can I do accelerated build-up to finish fewer weekly visits?
Yes. Cluster build-up (8–10 visits with 2–3 injections per visit plus 30-minute waits between each) and rush build-up (1–2 day escalation) both compress the conventional 24–28-week weekly schedule. CPT billing rules apply equally: each injection event bills 95117; each vial-prep event bills 95165. Rush build-up also bills CPT 95180 (rapid desensitization, per hour) at approximately $135.90 Medicare-allowed in 2025. Cluster and rush protocols reduce the total number of clinic days but do not reduce the number of billable injection events — and they concentrate cost into fewer, longer appointments. Both approaches require the same 30-minute post-injection observation intervals between dose escalation steps.
Why is Year 1 of allergy shots so much more expensive than subsequent years?
Two factors compound to make Year 1 significantly more expensive. First, frequency: the build-up phase requires approximately 26 weekly visits in 6 months versus 14–20 maintenance visits per year thereafter, concentrating copay stacking into a compressed window. At a $42 average specialist copay (KFF 2024 Employer Health Benefits Survey), Year 1's 39 total visits generate $1,638 in copays versus $588–$840 in a maintenance year. Second, vial-preparation costs concentrate in Year 1 because dilute extracts used in early build-up have short FDA-licensed stability windows, requiring more frequent 95165 billing events before stable maintenance-concentration vials are established. AAOA Stachler 2020 documents the stacking effect at '$20 × 52 weeks × 3 years: $3,120 at the minimum' for weekly scheduling.
How does HDHP deductible status affect weekly allergy shot costs?
HDHP deductible status is the most volatile cost variable during build-up. Before the deductible is met, HDHP patients owe the full contracted-allowed amount per visit — typically $35–$60 for a shot-only visit (CPT 95117 commercial allowed) or $150–$300+ for a shot-plus-vial-prep visit (CPT 95117 + 95165 × 10–20 doses). Most HDHP deductibles of $1,500–$3,500 get consumed in the first 2–4 build-up visits if vial preparation occurs on the first day. After the deductible is met, the same patient pays only 10–20% coinsurance or transitions to a flat copay — often making the rest of the build-up year far more manageable. Scheduling the first build-up appointment later in the calendar year (after existing medical spending has partially burned down the deductible) can meaningfully reduce total Year 1 OOP.
What is the total cost of the build-up phase for an uninsured patient?
At a transparent freestanding allergist's office, a 26-visit cash-pay build-up year typically runs $1,100–$2,600 in injection fees (CPT 95117 at $25–$100 cash) plus $600–$1,200 for two to three vial-preparation events (CPT 95165 at $200–$450 per 10-dose vial cash). Total cash build-up cost at a freestanding clinic: approximately $1,700–$3,800. At a hospital outpatient department, the same 26-visit schedule can reach $5,000–$44,000+ because the facility fee is layered onto every visit — Geisinger Scenery Park billed $1,711 for a single allergy visit at its HOPD in 2026 (WPSU Public Radio). The self-pay HOPD-vs-freestanding choice is the single largest cost lever for an uninsured patient scheduling weekly injections.
Do insurance copays apply on every single weekly allergy shot visit?
In most cases, yes — each clinic visit generates a separate copay or coinsurance event because each injection appointment is a distinct billable encounter. The exception is plans that waive the second copay when two services (such as CPT 95117 injection plus CPT 95165 vial prep) are billed on the same day — some plans apply only one specialist copay per date of service, not one per CPT code. Check your Summary of Benefits and Coverage for the 'same-day service' rule. AAOA Stachler 2020 specifically calls out the stacking effect as a hidden cost: patients are rarely warned upfront that 52 weekly injections in a year generate 52 separate copay events, producing $1,040–$2,340 in annual OOP at $20–$45 per copay.
Board-certified allergist and Chief Medical Officer with 15+ years treating immunotherapy patients. Expert in build-up protocol design and the economic barriers that drive the 23.9% pre-first-injection dropout rate documented in the Tkacz 2021 MarketScan analysis.
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Read moreSkip the surprise bills. Pay one flat rate.
Curex's flat $129/month covers your end-to-end immunotherapy — board-certified allergist design, serum compounded to USP <797> sterile standards, and weekly at-home dosing. No copays, no facility fees, no HOPD surprises. HSA/FSA eligible.
$129/mo flat · No facility fees · HSA/FSA eligible · Cancel anytime
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical, financial, or insurance advice. Cost figures are estimates based on public CMS/MGMA data and commercial payer ranges; actual prices vary by plan, region, and provider. Always verify coverage with your insurer and consult a qualified healthcare provider. Content reviewed by board-certified allergists at Curex.