I believe that these is another "talk to a forecaster" service in the UK (Is it AV-Brief?) which charge a per minute charge.
I use the one here all the time, which has a per minute charge of something like Euro 1.75 per minute, and I think it's great.
As for this being free in the USA, remember nothing is free. Everything has to be paid for somewhere, by somebody, just not always directly by the person useing it. In the US this may be those finding themselves attending public schools, because their parents can't afford private schools, and those who find themselves sick, without medical insurance.
It all has to be paid for by someone.
Haveing said that, I think a per minute charge is far better, than a flat £17 which is a bit much, for a 3 minute call, to talk something over with a forecaster.
dp