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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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?

Maybe make insurance or the government (since they do have some control) accountable and don't penalize patients instead. We pay a LOT of money. Not our fault the system is messed up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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?

Maybe make insurance or the government (since they do have some control) accountable and don't penalize patients instead. We pay a LOT of money. Not our fault the system is messed up.

How would you make them accountable? We’d have to pay more for doctors to get paid more. They have to treat you whether or not you have insurance. I pay premiums but I don’t go to any doctors who take insurance. I might as well self insure but I’m worried about a catastrophe.

[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.

Both the Brits and the Canadians are struggling with with government management of care. Canadians now routinely come to the US border states for their knee replacements as they can get it scheduled in 30 days vs. over 2 or 3 years or more.

[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.

Both the Brits and the Canadians are struggling with with government management of care. Canadians now routinely come to the US border states for their knee replacements as they can get it scheduled in 30 days vs. over 2 or 3 years or more.

France is really pretty good, mixed system of government and private to supplement. Care does not take a lot of time, cost is great, meds are cheap too. Same issue as here with doctor shortages in rural areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Concierge is a scourge.

It is ruining healthcare and making it so only rich people can afford medical care. USA is a third world S hole.

No it is not. IF you have money it is great. If you don't you still do fine and not great. That is the right way.

[Anonymous]

I left my doctor when she went concierge. When my work situation became insanely demanding, I returned bc it made one aspect of my life easier: short commute, same day or next day appointments, prompt call backs with test results, etc. After a health scare, I realized I needed someone to coordinate analysis of issues/concerns. Also, I have two young’s 20s kids who are working short term I retesting gigs in various locations. They call in for appointments when in town, prescription renewals when away, etc. That triples the value for me rn bc they are still on our health insurance and I don’t pay extra for them.

Is it worth it long term? I’m really not sure. Paying $2,200 annually just to get an appointment feels like a lot. It probably saves me a couple of hours of commute time and wait time for each visit.I guess it depends what else is available.

My father visited patients in hospital every afternoon and made house calls every night after office hours. He charged a few bucks and didn’t have malpractice insurance. That world’s gone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

You leap to conclusions without thinking first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

That is a user option. It's a "giveaway" to insurance companies when getting what they decide is the better option for their medical care needs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

After 13 years of running a practice, at age 66 she just got a semiretirement job to be a professor at a medical school. That's a normal critique of concierge medicine. That's her talking up her new prestigious job in the honeymoon phase.

https://news.cuanschutz.edu/department-of-medicine/endowed-chair-patient-experience-internal-medicine-moore

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Concierge is a scourge.

It is ruining healthcare and making it so only rich people can afford medical care. USA is a third world S hole. [/quote]

No it is not. IF you have money it is great. If you don't you still do fine and not great. That is the right way. [/quote]

Completely of touch imbecile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

That is a user option. It's a "giveaway" to insurance companies when getting what they decide is the better option for their medical care needs?

Those plans make a lot of money for insurance companies funded by the government. It's rent taking at its worst.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Concierge is a scourge.

It is ruining healthcare and making it so only rich people can afford medical care. USA is a third world S hole.

No it is not. IF you have money it is great. If you don't you still do fine and not great. That is the right way.

You must have money, because you think the current system is “great.”

After you just said more than half the people get worse care than the others. They love their family as much as you do, you know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Because doctors (and drug/insurance execs) expect to be rich.

For all of their complaining, do you have one doctor friend:relative who is not well off? They live in nice houses, send kids to private school, go on fancy vacations.

Lately, some don’t even work five days a week.

If you can afford that lifestyle, while working part-time, you are over charging your patients.

[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.

Both the Brits and the Canadians are struggling with with government management of care. Canadians now routinely come to the US border states for their knee replacements as they can get it scheduled in 30 days vs. over 2 or 3 years or more.

France is really pretty good, mixed system of government and private to supplement. Care does not take a lot of time, cost is great, meds are cheap too. Same issue as here with doctor shortages in rural areas.

I think every system is struggling with aging patients, doctor burnout, rural doctor shortages and an ever expanding range of treatments. My grandparents never had hip or knee replacements or chemo or organ transplants or quadruple bypasses or expensive pharmaceuticals or dental implants or other options we have come to expect.

[Anonymous]

My doctor proudly exclaims that she is not concierge…but recently added an annual “administrative fee.” The irony of that is she does not accept and will not deal with any insurance providers (including Medicare). So, basically, she is just passing the cost of having a practice administrator on to her patients.