Monday, July 04, 2011

Markets in Everything: $49 Strip Mall Lab Tests; A Convenient, Affordable Antidote to Obamacare

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KSTP -- "Next time you want a blood test, you could get it at a strip mall. A store-front lab firm is now open in Plymouth. It is the first business of its kind in Minnesota, but it will not be the last.

53-year-old Elaine Warren came to Any Lab Test Now to get her cholesterol checked. "I had an annual exam. It was up just a little bit so I thought I'm going get ahead of the game," says Warren. Her insurance covered her annual exam back in January, but to have her cholesterol checked now at her regular clinic would cost her $57 for the test, and a $45 co-pay for a total of $102. Her visit to Any Lab Test Now cost her $49. She was told she would get her results in about two days.

Any Lab Test Now has what it calls a 'Take Out Menu' of lab tests it performs. Lab officials say they've seen DNA tests for both paternity and immigration related issues, STD testing for informational purposes, thyroid panels and diabetes panels.

University of Minnesota Business Professor Steve Parente says with high deductible insurance becoming more popular this store-front lab test firm is an increasingly popular business model. Any Lab Test Now opened its first Minnesota branch in Plymouth in June and plans to have three more in the next year."

MP: This is one more example of affordable, convenient, market-based medicine with transparent pricing at labs that are open six days per week, and with evening hours at many locations.  Any Lab Test Now now operates in 31 states, and you don't need an appointment, insurance or a physician's referral.  At the same time that Obamacare is planning a complete government takeover of health care and medicine in America that will stifle competition and raise prices, the market continues to offer many new, innovative, alternative solutions to health care that are competitive, affordable and convenient.  

HT: Mike Carlson

9 Comments:

At 7/05/2011 7:33 AM, Blogger juandos said...

Wow! Good info and timely also Professor Mark...

Thanks for posting this nugget...

 
At 7/05/2011 7:33 AM, Blogger juandos said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 
At 7/05/2011 11:28 AM, Blogger Benjamin Cole said...

I like this example of free markets at work.

Not sure how free markets would handle the elderly person with cancer.

Euthanasia?

 
At 7/05/2011 11:30 AM, Blogger Benjamin Cole said...

Free markets in health care:

Should we give vouchers to military veterans, and shut down the VA?

What are the free market arguments for maintaining the VA?

Why has Dr. Perry never blogged about the need to voucherize the VA?

 
At 7/06/2011 1:24 PM, Blogger Frankie said...

@Benjamin,
We could voucherize the VA, much like other veterans benefits or other government programs. In particular, the GI Bill is a voucher program, where qualifying vets get to choose the school of their choice and spend their GI Bill accordingly. Or as another example, food stamps, which provide vouchers to be used at a local grocery store.

 
At 7/06/2011 8:48 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm not sure this would be legal in the Northeast. Vermont and some neighboring states have made it illegal to get non-OTC medical tests without a prescription.

 
At 7/06/2011 8:54 PM, Blogger Mark J. Perry said...

They operate in New Hampshire and PA, but not in other states in the NE.

 
At 7/07/2011 10:14 AM, Blogger Anthony Lima said...

Nationalized Health Care will have to have AnyLabTestNow outlawed or more likely "regulated" out of the business.

 
At 7/07/2011 11:22 AM, Blogger Milton Hayek said...

But this doesn't serve the needs and goals of the bureacracy and the political class!

The goal of Obummercare is not the enhanced health of the citizenry, but to achieve the long held progressive goal of cradle to grave control of the citizenry. The more of the economy under governemnt regulation and/or control, the sooner this goal is achived.

Strip mall labs, open MRI centers, LASIK mills and the like simply frustrate the efforts of those who know best how to run our lives...

 

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