A standard office visit tends to be about $100 in my area, sure. That'll get me to talk to the doctor. But if I want to test for Lyme that's a blood test. Now the lab is involved, they may or may not have their own billing department and they won't tell me for anything how much or even ballpark estimate of what it will cost so that they are covered if they need to do more.

So I talk to the doctor and they say XYZ tests need to be run. Okay, now I know what I need exactly and get a price, right? Nope. I just get the run around and "It depends on the insurance" and "We will bill you later" and "No it's probably not $5000" and straight up "I don't know"

Oh, okay, so I need to call the insurance company then, huh? Nope, they won't tell me either. I've tried. They just say "It depends". Even when I know exactly what labs they are going to run. I can say "I understand it might change if they need to run more tests." Nope. No idea.

Sometimes they can give you a straight answer but very often they will not.

It's hidden on purpose. It is confusing on purpose. Insurance companies don't want you to know what's going on. The doctors offices don't want to share "cash-only" info publicly because insurance companies will demand that price. The insurance companies don't want to share the info because people will complain. Etc etc it is not that easy when you go to the doctor for more than the really simple things.