The Health Traveler Blog: Healthcare Costs

During a recent annual physical, my GP noted a melanoma that he found worrisome, and suggested a biopsy. When, after some discussion, I asked what the procedure would cost, he seemed genuinely bewildered at such a question. And when I pressed him, I became convinced he honestly did not know the answer.

Two days later, I called a neighborhood radiology lab and an oncology specialty clinic to make the same inquiry. Again, I got the now-familiar runaround, and I never did get a clear cost estimate on a comparatively straightforward medical procedure.