Those basic exams cost most people thousands of dollars because they are paying insurance premiums for that kind of minor coverage. Getting a highter deductible and a lower premium coupled with inexpensive basic exams is a great way to reduce overall medical costs at home.
While somewhat true, I've often noticed that a higher deductible usually just means people put off going to the doctor when they really should.
Otherwise though, the prices you listed up there are pretty reasonable. In general though if you're willing to search you can always find some deals in medical care (as weird as "shopping around" sounds in this context
). As a private pilot I have to have a medical exam every 3 years (every 2 once you pass 40), which is naturally not covered by insurance. It's as thorough if not moreso than a standard physical and I've found a guy locally who does them for $90. The doctor is a pilot too and most of us tend to be enthusiastic about keeping as many pilots flying as possible so he might be cutting a deal there, but either way it's a good price.
I also remember when I was in high school on the football team - we had to get annual physicals to be allowed on any sports team. What they did though was they'd setup a clinic in a gym at a nearby school. They had a whole team of doctors and nurses who agreed to donate their time on a Saturday, and any student who wanted to go in to have their required physical could go have it done literally free of charge (and it was a pretty comprehensive physical).
On the flip side, those specialists are killer. I've had gout for years now. Diagnosed, tested, confirmed. My family doctor however wanted to send me to a specialist to make sure that the gout hadn't further causes rheumatoid arthritis in some affected joints. Went to the specilist, the guy comes in, looks at my foot, then tells me basically "You've got gout - here's what gout is . . ." - information that I've read countless times on the internet. After that 5-10 minute talk, I'm sent on my way. A complete waste of a trip. My bill for that was $350 (which I had to cover $187 of to meet my annual deductible, which is $300 if I remember right).
