Get a medical lab test w/o a doctor or insurance
January 13th, 2010 | by Brian Schwartz |With politicians trying to force everyone to pay for medical care through insurance, and pay for insurance through their employer, it’s nice to see a development where the patient can still be the customer. A couple of weeks ago Scripps News reported:
As Americans struggle to take charge of their health care — and hold down their medical costs — a growing number are bypassing the doctor and going right to the source for diagnostic tests.
Whether through arrangements made online or at one of scores of storefront testing centers around the country, patients are rolling up their sleeves to get screening results about everything from sexually transmitted diseases to cholesterol levels that in many cases leave physicians out of the loop.
Most of the time, patients pay for the testing out of pocket, with no insurance money involved. And they control who sees the results. …
Both the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) have issued policies against clinical or genetic testing that leave physicians out of the loop.
John Stossel notes that “It’s no surprise that some in the medical establishment have a problem with that.” The president of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) says “most of these services offer standard panels of tests from a menu, and that can mean you wind up paying for tests you don’t need and may not get a test that might benefit you.” Stossel responds:
Thanks, Doc, for your concern about “paying for tests you don’t need.” However, doctors have been over-testing for decades — and charging us — to protect themselves from malpractice suits. At least now, people have a choice. Businesses that confront these entrenched bureaucracies and succeed despite the odds are one more thing that’s good about American entrepreneurship.
