why do biopsys for skin cancer cost $400-500?

Q. Why do health care procedures cost so much?

A. Health insurance.

Without health insurance companies, the price of health care would be cheap.

The biopsy is just to screen the skin for any cancerous cells, it does NOT mean you definitely have cancer. You most likely don't and if the mole IS cancerous they will just scoop it right off you body, it's not like having lung cancer or tumor in your brain. (Skin cancer can be serious at times but generally an outpatient procedure can remove the affected area)

I hate it when democrats say thing like "republicans can't put themselves in their shoes".... How can a democrat know the mind of a republican any better?? Dear, we do want to reform the health care system, just not the same way as the current one offered, which even the president himself doesn't even know what it says! What we're trying to avoid is that the government health system may say, "sorry, your procedure is too expensive, take an aspirin" ......which is what Obama DID suggest some people do, and accept the consequences of aging. And imagine that, he won't even participate in the very health care he's trying to peddle on us!

Are you caucasian? If so stop going into the sun and tanning yourself purposely.. we aren't genetically designed for too much sun. Lower melanin levels causes UV radiation to pierce right into you which causes aging as well as DNA damage and an influx of free radicals.

That's the reason skin cancer deaths are skyrocketing in this country right now. Everyone wants a "hip tan"

Yes, I do feel bad for people who have to die from cancer because they may be uninsured, or the cost of a surgery is too expensive for them.I hope that your medical procedure turns out well.

NJS was right, protect your skin from the sun, it can seriously save your life.

All it would take is a few days of a compromised immune system from a lack of sleep and stress for sun-created moles to grow aggressively and spread into your vital organs. And once they do that, you pretty much have cancer for life. You'll need to get surgeries to remove them from your organs and scans every month to see if they pop up anywhere else.

Well, I'd assume you'd want a realistic, logical, life saving answer rather than one telling you to go to the beach every week after your mole's removed...

You're welcome in advance.

They cost 400-500 dollars because someone spent 10+ years in school paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to be able to remove that mole only to have some ambulance chaser breathing down there neck waiting to sue them for 10 million dollars for the emotional strain they put on you during the mole removal.

Get a job at starbucks. They have good health care and take care of there employee's.. usually work with school schedules.. and you get free coffee. Problem solved.. some "intellectuals" are just silly.

Edit*

I was in your shoes. I got a kidney stone in college before I got health insurance and it cost me 5,000 worth of hospital visits and drugs. 900 dollars for the ambulance ride the first time even. You know what I did. I got a new job and paid 28 dollars a paycheck for full health coverage.

our healthcare system weeds out the weak that bring down our country. How hard it is to make an extra $100 a month to pay for your own damn healthcare? damn people are stupid and lazy

ok... that was a little weird.

**edit - i lived without insurance for years. you know what i did? i worked and got a better job. god forbid people have to put some effort into their lives to earn something for themselves. i'm not a republican; nor do i care what they think about universal health care, all i know is that if you're waiting for the government to fix something for you, you have to understand all their contracts go to the lowest bidder. if you're ok with that, then by all means, go for whatever they feed you, but i'd appreciate it if you do it without my money.

and for the poster below, why do we have to have health insurance companies? because it's required by government. so they are attempting to fix a problem they created and in doing so... creating yet another problem... because american people are too lazy to fix it themselves. we use to be able to have direct health care from private doctors, no middle men... and it was cheaper because people couldn't sue the doctors for malpractice because their written agreement was they both decided on the course of action and if it failed, there was no blame. doctors on their part, didn't want to fail because they could potentially lose a paying customer and get a bad reputation that would drive away future customers.

what's wrong with that system now? other than government has no part in it.

Haven't you seen the prices for Mercedes, mansions, basement lap pools, yachts, and Learjets? How do you expect your rich class to fully enjoy these amenities if you don't pay your fair share along with all the other working class saps?