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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

So much misinformation. First, ACA isn’t govt run healthcare, it’s through private companies. Second, I’m sure the VA has problems but Medicare is govt run healthcare and seniors are overwhelmingly happy with original Medicare. There’s no reason that model couldn’t work for more people. Third, you have to talk about the impact private equity has had on practices.

Medicare and the ACA are giveaways to insurance companies than primarily serve to bloat cost for everyone

Explain how Medicare, which is a government insurance program, is a giveaway to insurance companies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep. This is the wave of the future. My PCP and neurologist both charge concierge fees. And my neuro once recommended me to someone who didn’t take insurance at all!

I’m afraid care is going to become bifurcated between those who can afford extra fees and those who can’t.

As great as the ACA was, giving everyone who didn't have insurance access to primary care meant more patients than doctors could possibly handle. We had kaiser, but once enrollment swelled, seeing PCPs in a timely manner became impossible. We left for BCBS plus concierge and consider it the price of being able to see a doctor in a reasonable time frame

I don't find that I have that issue at all and to me telehealth has eliminated the need for PCP visits aside from well visits entirely. I can "see" someone within literally 30 seconds after pushing a button on my phone, have meds within the hour. For specialists the wait can be long but that was always the case for me.

That's good only if you've diagnosed yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't see the value.

What they are calling "concierge" is what used to be the normal standard of care.

It's just charging more to get what you already expected, with dishonest spin on top instead of just saying "free market, your choice".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

So much misinformation. First, ACA isn’t govt run healthcare, it’s through private companies. Second, I’m sure the VA has problems but Medicare is govt run healthcare and seniors are overwhelmingly happy with original Medicare. There’s no reason that model couldn’t work for more people. Third, you have to talk about the impact private equity has had on practices.

Literally nothing I shared was "misinformation." It's all true. Stop gaslighting people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a doctor in primary care. If you want an MD pcp doctor in the future with good appointment times and someone who has time to listen etc this is what the future holds. For many it’s either this or leaving medicine all together because the current landscape is not sustainable.

In the future it will be either MD via concierge for the rich and a rotating group of NP/PA with less training for everyone else.

nah, we dont want to pay and think $50 for a annual PCP visit is more than enough SMH at how brainwashed the patients/consumers are these days.

$50 is more than enough. It’s shocking how brainwashed Americans are. People on South Korea or Japan go to the doctor every year for free, or when they need to pay it costs something like $5-10 per visit. US healthcare blows.

You don't understand the difference between how much the patient pays at point of service vs how much the provider receives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Does One Medical havea web page that tells you how much they charge for various aspects of care?

Or is it the same mystery meat pricing as before, but you pay extra for more time to chat with the doctor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a doctor in primary care. If you want an MD pcp doctor in the future with good appointment times and someone who has time to listen etc this is what the future holds. For many it’s either this or leaving medicine all together because the current landscape is not sustainable.

In the future it will be either MD via concierge for the rich and a rotating group of NP/PA with less training for everyone else.

nah, we dont want to pay and think $50 for a annual PCP visit is more than enough SMH at how brainwashed the patients/consumers are these days.

$50 is more than enough. It’s shocking how brainwashed Americans are. People on South Korea or Japan go to the doctor every year for free, or when they need to pay it costs something like $5-10 per visit. US healthcare blows.

You don't understand the difference between how much the patient pays at point of service vs how much the provider receives.

And you don’t understand how terrible the U.S. is. The Japanese have a similar level of taxation as we do, yet somehow they manage to have pretty much universal access to affordable medicine. In fact, the Japanese government mandates that everyone get a free comprehensive physical every year after a certain age. Healthcare is affordable and accessible there that they got to the doctor like 9-12 times per year, on average. Each time might only cost them $20 or less out of pocket.


Meanwhile, in the U.S. we shell out hundreds per month for insurance that many places no longer even take only to have to pay even more exorbitant fees at the offices. And that’s only if you’re lucky enough to get access to a doctor. Everything about US healthcare blows. It is massively overpriced too.

[Anonymous]

Our primary care doc went concierge a few years ago & does not take calls live nor does she text us. A friend who is a doctor does do these things. The definition of concierge varies widely. But, it reminds me of the situation with mental health professionals, hardly any of whom accept insurance nowadays. It's unavoidable and I agree with a PP who noted that we are going to have a bifurcated system with people who can afford to pay $$$ having better access to care than those who cannot. Wish we would have real reform of the health insurance industry (eg single payer).

[Anonymous]

Doctors deserve to get paid. The end. If insurance won’t reimburse at rates that allow doctors to stay in business they have no choice but to do this. They could just start doing cosmetic stuff instead?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

So much misinformation. First, ACA isn’t govt run healthcare, it’s through private companies. Second, I’m sure the VA has problems but Medicare is govt run healthcare and seniors are overwhelmingly happy with original Medicare. There’s no reason that model couldn’t work for more people. Third, you have to talk about the impact private equity has had on practices.

Medicare and the ACA are giveaways to insurance companies than primarily serve to bloat cost for everyone

Explain how Medicare, which is a government insurance program, is a giveaway to insurance companies.

https://www.medicare.gov/health-drug-plans/health-plans/your-health-plan-options

Next year, estimates are the government will pay between $500 and $600 billion towards those plans

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

So much misinformation. First, ACA isn’t govt run healthcare, it’s through private companies. Second, I’m sure the VA has problems but Medicare is govt run healthcare and seniors are overwhelmingly happy with original Medicare. There’s no reason that model couldn’t work for more people. Third, you have to talk about the impact private equity has had on practices.

Literally nothing I shared was "misinformation." It's all true. Stop gaslighting people.

Another moron who can't use the word "gaslighting" correctly. Typical.

[Anonymous]

I listened to a podcast where a doctor quit doing concierge medicine. She said she was mainly seeing the worried well, and because she wasn't seeing enough unusual cases, her skills were deteriorating. She also felt that patients treated her as an employee after paying a large annual fee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I listened to a podcast where a doctor quit doing concierge medicine. She said she was mainly seeing the worried well, and because she wasn't seeing enough unusual cases, her skills were deteriorating. She also felt that patients treated her as an employee after paying a large annual fee.

I think the shift to concierge often happens after the practice is sold to a private equity group.

This will be an unfortunate phase. Eventually insurance companies will negotiate with providers over access without these fees. Probably about five years from now. In the short run, people might need to switch to HMO plans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see the value.

What they are calling "concierge" is what used to be the normal standard of care.

It's just charging more to get what you already expected, with dishonest spin on top instead of just saying "free market, your choice".

This. I came to the conclusion that it’s a scam. The PCP and his staff expected me to be accomodating to THEIR schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I listened to a podcast where a doctor quit doing concierge medicine. She said she was mainly seeing the worried well, and because she wasn't seeing enough unusual cases, her skills were deteriorating. She also felt that patients treated her as an employee after paying a large annual fee.

Her article
https://www.kevinmd.com/2020/03/a-physician-leaves-concierge-medicine-after-13-years.html