TV doctors say annual checkups save lives – real doctors call bullshit (2016)
Just had a recent physical - I got a low value for a test and it kicked off more tests, a visit to a specialist, more tests and no conclusion besides &#x27;let&#x27;s wait and see&#x27; which I could have done without draining my HSA.  If the price of care was reasonable, sure, let&#x27;s be proactive but because PCPs don&#x27;t really seem to do anything but refer you to a specialist and any visit to a specialist + tests will immediately trigger thousands of dollars in bills, even if you&#x27;re insured you&#x27;re going be paying your deductible plus like 10-30% after that.<p>I got a random lab bill for like $650 (discounted from $2500) and in the follow up visit everyone agreed that was high but no could explain why it was that expensive - medicare&#x27;s fee schedule has the same code costing $90.  Until we stop this madness of providers basically charging whatever opaque negotiated random amount they want to insurers who then pass that down to charge payers after collecting a % the prices are just going to continue to go up and the broken medical system will stay fucked - with the consequence that the economics aren&#x27;t going to make sense to seek proactive care.