The $600 Wart

This is why people with no insurance avoid going to the doctor:

Visit to doctor: $90

First lab bill: $80

Second lab bill: $210.00

Third lab bill: $175.00

Is there no way to test the wartiness of a growth without having to test for every other possibility under the sun? How many more labs are involved? How many more of these bills should I expect?

After taking the wart sample, the doctor told me the growth is probably a) just a wart; or b) a kind of skin cancer that usually goes away by itself.

I think, with that kind of information, and knowing what my lab bill(s) would add up to, I might have said, OK, skip the lab work.


Note: I confess, the picture does not show the infamous wart that was on my leg, but a mushroom that was on my lawn last year.