Right after clipping my toenails and paying bills, going to the doctor is one of my least-favorite tasks.
I can handle the bad news (quit smoking, drink less and eat a better diet ...) and I really don't mind being probed like a crashed alien, so that's not a factor in my angst.
No, my real reason for avoiding the doctor is simple: I hate paying for it.
I went to get checked Monday and after filling out about 20 pages of paperwork, I was summoned into a room by a nurse's aide.
That's when it really hit me: the hospitals and doctor's offices all but have a license to print money.
I looked around the waiting room, in the hallway and in the examination room and nowhere did I find a chart listing the costs for service.
I asked a nurse if she knew how much I'd be charged for my visit and she had no clue, either.
Nowhere at a doctor's office is there a list of fees. Go ahead, look for yourselves ... you'll find nothing. Still, we have no choice: we get sick, we need a doctor. They can charge what they want, I guess.
I just find it hard to believe, though, that in 2010 -- when we have computerized everything -- we can't simply post a banner featuring basic services and their costs.
Go out to eat, you'll see a menu. Go to a department store and you'll find price tag. Doesn't it stand to reason that our physicians provide us the same courtesy?
