Concierge service. Definitely a result of insurance micro managing the doctor/patient relationship. I am 50 and healthy--see my doc 1 or 2 times a year so I don't think the extra money is justified. However, if I had a chronic illness and needed to see my dr frequently, I would probably pay the fee.

Ours is $100 annually.

http://www.gimg.com/ppa.shtml

Would you pay it?

Yes, they previously had an optional admin fee of $50. This is a new twist, and isn't mandatory, yet....not sure what to do!

This is just a result of managed care (insurance companies making way too much profit) and high malpractice.

It's just the way it's going to work now.

This is becoming more and more common. Apparently the doctors aren't pulling in enough money because of insurance. $45 per month is a lot. I just went to a new GP and told her that I was shopping around for a new doctor. She was really nice and helpful for my checkup and phrased her answers with _"if you do choose me as your doctor" and then I get this bill in the mail for a $30 annual administrative fee that she never told me about.

Just another example of the ever-widening gap between the haves (or super-haves) and the haves-not. Bye bye middle class...

OP here, it's a pre-curser to concierge service, I just don't get it the need for it. I've always had excellent service there, got in when I needed to, dr spends a lot of time with me- but I only go Once a yr for a physical, and 1-2 times (max) if I'm sick - rare - should I stick it out and see if I get worse service?

Anonymous wrote:Let me guess. They are going "concierge." Our internist did this and we found a new doctor. It disgusted me, because we were told the $ was for "access" to the doctor, and not medical services.

This will probably be illegal in a few years. It should be.

are we entering a socialist state?

I don't know if this is something similar but my parents' doctors do this new "concierge" service where the costs are higher, but the drs have a greatly reduced patient caseload so that they can spend much more time with their patients. So, my parents would have an hour with their dr for an appt, rather than the 10 mins. Also, the drs are pretty much on call 24-7, directly available to their patients.

Wait, what? I don't get it.

Let me guess. They are going "concierge." Our internist did this and we found a new doctor. It disgusted me, because we were told the $ was for "access" to the doctor, and not medical services.

This will probably be illegal in a few years. It should be.

You should name the doctor on this forum b/c that is disgusting and he/she should be ashamed of this practice.

I just got a call from my dr's office, an internist, that if I pay $45 per month I'll get better care/service. Does this make sense? Is the wave of the future? I'm only 40..... This would cost me and DH 1k a year?!