Cheap lab work for uninsured and insured
 

It's a long article so I'll just post the link, but this looks pretty cool if you need lab work done. Haven't tested it myself so no idea how easy it is to do but worth checking out.

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(CNN) -- Day after demoralizing day, Dr. Doug Lefton watched uninsured patients leave his office needing laboratory tests but unlikely to have them done because of the cost.
"It's a little heartbreaking when you have someone in your office and they need a blood test and they won't do it because they can't afford it," Lefton, 56, said.

So the Fairlawn, Ohio, family physician decided to do something about it. Working with other doctors and an online marketer, Lefton devised a way to slash the cost of lab tests not only for his patients but for almost anyone, anywhere.

As a former newspaper reporter, Lefton understood how publicizing a problem can generate solutions. He contacted the Akron Beacon Journal, which subsequently published a story highlighting the high cost of lab tests.

He was soon contacted by Tom Patton, CEO of PrePaidLab LLC, an Avon Lake, Ohio, online marketer of lab tests.

Working with the Summit County Medical Society, Lefton struck a deal with LabCorp, one of the largest testing companies in the country, and PrePaidLab. The arrangement allows patients to get lab tests done for a small fraction of the normal cost, simply by ordering them through the medical society's website.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/12/08....html?hpt=Sbin

medical in general is costly, for humans, and pets. Just dropped a grand on a dog, and she passed away after being told shed be fine by vet. The cost of tests and lab work on blood, and xrays and specialists in general make medical cost sky high. As I said, for humans and pets.

yes, but in some cases the prices are jacked up because they know the patient will have insurance that covers it. I went to the doctor about two years ago before I had health insurance (yes, i went for a while without) and he told me to go to an urgent care facility as they can do the testing for cheaper, even though it goes to the same place.