A website recently launched in the United States is determined to provide affordable medical testing to uninsured parties and other persons who are unable to pay for full-priced tests and laboratory fees. PrePaidLab.com, launched by a general physician from Ohio, is committed to driving down the consumer costs of receiving lab testing in America.
Doug Lefton, founder of PrePaidLab, started the site in response to the increasing difficulty his uninsured and underprivileged patients had in getting access to standard medical testing.
The PrePaidLab site operates on a price comparison principle, which Lefton explains is -like using Amazon.com to buy your lab tests.- Users requiring a test are asked to log-in, specify the tests recommended by their doctor, compare prices and proceed to an online checkout using one of the approved payment methods.
In order for the actual test to be performed, the patient and PrePaidLab site user are given an appointment at a LabCorp location of their choosing, where the test is administered according to the latest health regulations. Depending on the type of exam requested, results can usually be sent to both the patient and their general practitioner within 24 hours of the test being administered.
Lefton has suggested that cheap web hosting of price comparisons and medical testing from multiple wholesalers is capable of saving users upwards of 50 percent on the cost of their lab tests, as well as minimizing time away from work and costly consultation fees.
The latest statistics show almost 50 million Americans, or some 17 percent of the population, lacked health insurance for at least part of the 2009 calendar year, and many analysts have cited the service offered by PrePaidLab.com as extremely valuable given the current economic state of affairs. The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has suggested that the cheap webhosting of quality cut-rate testing information should vastly improve the overall health of the American population in spite of significant pressures on personal finances and the public health system.
