I have also seen these places. Some of them will tell you the doctor has gone to lunch when you tell them you have individual insurance. There are "direct acce

I have also seen these places. Some of them will tell you the doctor has gone to lunch when you tell them you have individual insurance. There are "direct access" clinics that can perform lots of blood tests without a doctor's help at a low cost -- $5 to $20 per panel. Fill out a form, draw a couple vials, go home and your results come in the next day. What's frustrating is that you aren't typically told about these options, and so you end up paying five times as much out of pocket to have the doctor be your gatekeeper. So then you're tempted to say screw the doctors and use the internet to perform your own diagnoses. It's a shame we have such an antagonistic healthcare system, and I don't see how it can get better as long as the medical industry expects to book profits at a faster rate than the growth of the population.