Doctor's office switching to "concierge" (additional cost outside of insurance)

[Anonymous]

I find the local DMV doctors waste a lot of time in chats I don’t want. Pediatrics also a big time waster. I’d rather have short visits with more convenient schedules and openings instead of one hour annuals scheduled six months in advance at 630am for my kids. Plus all the doctors want to do are annual visits. I never have anything to talk about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank ACA.

This has nothing to do with the ACA.

Oh oh we have an expert here with first hand experience. Smh...all doctors will tell you ACA has made providing care harder, quality has come down etc etc. I know you're a dem but sometimes you just have to accept "facts"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank ACA.

This has nothing to do with the ACA.

Oh oh we have an expert here with first hand experience. Smh...all doctors will tell you ACA has made providing care harder, quality has come down etc etc. I know you're a dem but sometimes you just have to accept "facts"

What about ACA do they not like?

[Anonymous]

I don't understand the argument for concierge, and the doctor's office certainly isn't helping.

Insurance doesn't pay enough? Doctor already charges more than insurance pays and doesn't post prices on their web site, so why can't they just charge more for services?

Is it something about being "in network" having hard price caps, vs out-of-network doctors who have reimbursements limits but unlimited prices?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank ACA.

This isn’t an ACA thing. It’s a privat insurance thing.

I would MUCH rather have a government bureaucracy making decisions about my health coverage and claims than a private enterprise trying to meet quarterly earnings targets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the argument for concierge, and the doctor's office certainly isn't helping.

Insurance doesn't pay enough? Doctor already charges more than insurance pays and doesn't post prices on their web site, so why can't they just charge more for services?

Is it something about being "in network" having hard price caps, vs out-of-network doctors who have reimbursements limits but unlimited prices?

That’s what they’re doing with concierge, genius.[b]

[Anonymous]

Because insurance companies don't pay enough, and because Dr offices have to hire someone to file claims and fight claims with the insurance companies, they have to see more and more patients to make ends meet. Then it's hard to get an appointment, waits are long and time with the doctor is short.

The idea behind concierge is that if patients pay a extra fee, the doctors can see fewer patients and have more time for those patients. A problem arises if the only patients who agree to pay the fee are incredibly sick/complex cases that require a ton of time, and the worried well who are probably hypochondriac. They need a balance of well and unwell patients paying them to make it work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Email:


Dear {insert patient name},
[sic. That's what the email said]


We are writing to announce an important practice change. We will convert to a concierge/personalized care practice model.

Unfortunately, in recent years the healthcare environment has made it almost unsustainable to practice medicine as independent physicians due to the mandated constraints placed on doctors.

Continuity of care and personalized communication have become more difficult. This is not the way we want to practice medicine.


As a member, you will enjoy phones answered live by caring staff, scheduling appointments quickly and at your convenience, having extended unhurried visits, receiving dedicated follow-up between visits, and directly communicating with us after hours for urgent issues.


In order to realize these goals, our practice size will be limited and there will be an annual membership fee
------

Fee amount not announced yet.

Thoughts?

Sounds like a lot of words to say "we need more profit per patient."

So now we get a guaranteed fixe price to pay PLUS still get surprise bills for treatment.

We got a very similar email from Marshak medical group. A few sentences were different from whay you posted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank ACA.

This has nothing to do with the ACA.

Oh oh we have an expert here with first hand experience. Smh...all doctors will tell you ACA has made providing care harder, quality has come down etc etc. I know you're a dem but sometimes you just have to accept "facts"

Spoken like a true “always wrong but rarely in doubt” MAGAt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank ACA.

This isn’t an ACA thing. It’s a privat insurance thing.

I would MUCH rather have a government bureaucracy making decisions about my health coverage and claims than a private enterprise trying to meet quarterly earnings targets.

Oh my God. You have obviously never worked with the government.

My mom was a VA nurse for 38 years. You do NOT WANT THE GOVERNMENT MANAGING YOUR CARE. So many unnecessary deaths due to poor docs. There was one surgeon they called "Dr. Death" because he nicked organs like weekly, leading to people dying of sepsis unnecessarily. Did the VA stop him from operating? Nope. He continued on for 15 more years doing this until he retired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the argument for concierge, and the doctor's office certainly isn't helping.

Insurance doesn't pay enough? Doctor already charges more than insurance pays and doesn't post prices on their web site, so why can't they just charge more for services?

Is it something about being "in network" having hard price caps, vs out-of-network doctors who have reimbursements limits but unlimited prices?

That’s what they’re doing with concierge, genius.[b]

No, they are charging for a retainer, not for the medical services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank ACA.

This isn’t an ACA thing. It’s a privat insurance thing.

I would MUCH rather have a government bureaucracy making decisions about my health coverage and claims than a private enterprise trying to meet quarterly earnings targets.

Oh my God. You have obviously never worked with the government.

My mom was a VA nurse for 38 years. You do NOT WANT THE GOVERNMENT MANAGING YOUR CARE. So many unnecessary deaths due to poor docs. There was one surgeon they called "Dr. Death" because he nicked organs like weekly, leading to people dying of sepsis unnecessarily. Did the VA stop him from operating? Nope. He continued on for 15 more years doing this until he retired.

Same in private insurance care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Email:


Dear {insert patient name},
[sic. That's what the email said]


We are writing to announce an important practice change. We will convert to a concierge/personalized care practice model.

Unfortunately, in recent years the healthcare environment has made it almost unsustainable to practice medicine as independent physicians due to the mandated constraints placed on doctors.

Continuity of care and personalized communication have become more difficult. This is not the way we want to practice medicine.


As a member, you will enjoy phones answered live by caring staff, scheduling appointments quickly and at your convenience, having extended unhurried visits, receiving dedicated follow-up between visits, and directly communicating with us after hours for urgent issues.


In order to realize these goals, our practice size will be limited and there will be an annual membership fee
------

Fee amount not announced yet.

Thoughts?

Sounds like a lot of words to say "we need more profit per patient."

So now we get a guaranteed fixe price to pay PLUS still get surprise bills for treatment.

Not worth it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank ACA.

This has nothing to do with the ACA.

Oh oh we have an expert here with first hand experience. Smh...all doctors will tell you ACA has made providing care harder, quality has come down etc etc. I know you're a dem but sometimes you just have to accept "facts"

Spoken like a true “always wrong but rarely in doubt” MAGAt.

Actually. I am a doctor and this is the sentiment. We have seen the changes first hand since ACA kicked in, you start to insure more and more with lower compensation = more people to treat for the same amount of money = quality of care goes down.

fun fact, the cost of these procedures has not increased for decades. For god sakes how can you PCP annual visit only be worth $50 for the provider??? How much is a meal for a family of 4? thats BS and you know it.

But you guys carry on as we go out of network.

[Anonymous]

I’ve been paying the concierge fee to one medical for like ten years and I’ve never regretted it honestly. I feel like I get a good value. But if money were really tight I might drop it and just use urgent care more often.