I think denying testing is also a money saving exercise for the NHS. This is a problem with state run health systems.
Here in the UK, it costs the NHS money for every test that is given. So it is in the interests of the NHS to minimise testing, in order to conserve their funds for other patients.
Whereas in the US, with testing labs and doctors being private sector, for profit operations, it is their financial interests to maximize the number of tests that are given to a patient.
So it seems to me that this is one of the advantages of having a for profit rather than state run health system like the NHS: in a for profit system, you are encouraged to see specialists and gets tests done, as this makes people money. In the NHS, you are often discouraged from seeing specialists and getting tests done, as this costs the system money.
One GP I saw in the UK about 7 years ago actually confided in me that, at that time, there was a special secret drive from the UK government to save money, and that all GPs were asked not to send their patients to specialists if at all possible, to cut back on costs (it costs the NHS on average £25 for each patient's visit to a primary care GP, but around £400 for each visit to a specialist doctor). I don't know if this policy is still in place now.
As the US introduces Obamacare, I do hope that the country does not start going down the route of cutting back on testing and medical care.