2008-12-14, 02:35 AM
As far as doctors testing you for free, (for anything,) that probably happens in countries with universal healthcare, but not in America. A blood test requires some sort of machine and staff to draw blood. That means the office needs the machine, and the nurse/nurse assistant must draw the blood. That means they're doing work, and the office will charge you for it.
Trust me, there are worse things in the American healthcare system. In an American hospital, a pill of Tylenol costs ONE THOUSAND times more than a pill of Tylenol out of a bottle you buy at the store. Why? Because for every person with insurance that comes in an American hospital, there's a bunch that are homeless, uninsured, etc. Since the hospital is free to charge anything it wants (the guy is passed out or whatever) they pretty much will. If they didn't, the high volume of uninsured people coupled with the hospital having to treat them would get the hospital shut down.
Trust me, there are worse things in the American healthcare system. In an American hospital, a pill of Tylenol costs ONE THOUSAND times more than a pill of Tylenol out of a bottle you buy at the store. Why? Because for every person with insurance that comes in an American hospital, there's a bunch that are homeless, uninsured, etc. Since the hospital is free to charge anything it wants (the guy is passed out or whatever) they pretty much will. If they didn't, the high volume of uninsured people coupled with the hospital having to treat them would get the hospital shut down.