If anyone is having issues with their insurance company not paying, see if these links has information that will help:
thyroid.about.com/cs/newsresearch/a/insurancepay.htmwww.treatlyme.net/articles/2011/11/19/insurance-and-medical-board-appeals.html The original test that the CDC set up for Lyme disease was simply for tracking purposes only. They wanted to know how far one specific strain of this disease had spread - that's why so few bands are tested for. When people all over the US popped up with having been exposed and were still ill - I believe that they panicked and sided with the IDSA. Who wants to admit to an epidemic if it can be brushed 'under the rug'? I watched as they took down their original page for Lyme and replaced it with the denials that are there now.
There are only a few good labs that will take the time to be sure that their people are properly educated on not only how to perform the tests, but invest in the proper equipment and other things to do the tests and on how to interpret them as well. Igenex and Stony Brook are the only two that I ever remember.
There are also a lot of reasons why someone who "should" test positive, won't. Things like a co-infection with Bartonella, an immune system that isn't capable of functioning well enough to mount a response, mold toxicity and more - not to mention what someone else has about
labs only testing for a few (4 or 5) strains when there are over 100 in the US..... and more are being added as there are 300 strains world wide and we have not only birds spreading these other strains, but human travels as well. This is why the best Lyme Literate docs - no matter what modality they choose to practice - will rely much more heavily on the symptoms and "hope" to have a positive test result to back them up.