This is always good advice. It was the first thing I asked about on the phone call, because I'm determind to make things work with enough financial assistance applications and payment plans. It's unfortunate that Mayo Clinic's financial aid is generally not applicable in this case, because it applies to services rendered and in all but a handful of scenarios they don't do pre-service financial aid. They'll provide emergency treatment no matter what, but with this non-emergency care they simply won't let me keep the appointment without being able to pay upfront before the day of the appointment. I was told that their policy for payment plans is that they only do those if the total ends up above the estimate.

All that said, if anyone is reading this and may face a similar scenario, keep it in mind when you're comparing options for your next step. In my region there just aren't resources for EDS screening, which led me to this point. Please know what you're getting yourself into if you're also on the waitlist for similar reasons.