(BigGovernment.news) In case you haven’t heard, Obamacare is a massive failure that is destroying the U.S. healthcare system while threatening to bankrupt health insurers and no small number of Americans. But fortunately for many, there is a much better alternative emerging – one that offers better, more personal and more affordable coverage than the tanking Affordable Care Act.
Concierge medicine.
Here’s how it works: Patients pay an annual (or monthly) membership fee to be part of a concierge medical practice. Doctors have fewer patients, but spend more time addressing medical concerns and preventing disease among their set of patients. And annual membership fees range between $1,500-$1,700 per patient.
“This model allows me to have more time with patients and it allows me to dedicate more time and office staff time to the communication necessary to make care better. It makes me more rapidly available to my patients and their families,” Dr. Jim Williams, a primary care practitioner who uses the concierge medicine model, told HealthPayerIntelligence.com.
The amount of time a patient spends talking with a physician who uses this concierge medicine model of payment goes far beyond that of a standard medical appointment, Williams said.
“The benefits for the patient are that they find their doctor is far more accessible in person because the office visits last much longer – as long as the patient needs, in fact. The shortest visit is 30 minutes. That’s how we block the time. They can be made much longer. We have 90-minute visits as well,” Williams added.
“There’s no sense of being rushed. Furthermore, the practice is much smaller so the doctor and his/her staff gets to know each patient far more intimately. Far more time is available on the telephone – not just with the doctor, but with staff, the business manager and the nurse as well.”
This isn’t the only model, of course. After being a “doctor to the rich and famous” for some years at Pebble Beach Resort in Monterrey, Calif., Dr. Samir Qamar opened Medlion clinics (more than 16 strong, as of this writing), where he charges patients $59 a month and $10 per visit, never, ever billing an insurance company. That also makes lab tests much cheaper.
Talk about free-market medicine, this is it.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal in 2013:
Of the estimated 5,500 concierge practices nationwide, about two-thirds charge less than $135 a month on average, up from 49% three years ago, according to Concierge Medicine Today, a trade publication that also runs a research collective for the industry. Inexpensive practices are driving growth in concierge medicine, which is adding offices at a rate of about 25% a year, says the American Academy of Private Physicians. … Eliminating insurance billing cuts 40% of the practices’ overhead expenses, enabling them to keep fees low, doctors say.
Matt Jacobson, CEO of concierge practice SignatureMD, offered his perspective on how this new payment model could revolutionize the healthcare industry and solve many ongoing payment reform issues.
When asked about the biggest problems surrounding traditional healthcare payment options and how concierge medicine solves these issues, Jacobson told RevCycleIntelligence, “Traditional healthcare payment options pay for procedures instead of results. Physicians are penalized financially for spending more time with patients delivering thoughtful, whole person care. [Concierge medicine fixes this problem].”
Continuing, he noted, “Concierge medicine’s growth is being fueled by both physicians and patients. Physicians are fed up with assembly line medicine in which they get paid based on the number of patients they see per day. Doctors want to practice good medicine instead of fast medicine. Similarly, patients do not want to feel like a number. They want to lock into a close relationship with a trusted physician who will do what’s right for them instead of what’s right according to the payer.”
But wait – why bother with this, since Obamacare requires all Americans to buy health insurance? Because, as the WSJ explains:
While some insurers are developing special health plans around concierge practices, most patients who see concierge doctors pay for it on top of their regular insurance. The rationale: Many of the new health plans have high deductibles that most members will never hit, meaning patients will still be paying thousands of dollars out-of-pocket anyway—possibly even more than what they’d spend on concierge medicine. People with deductibles of $5,000 or more should think about how many times a year they typically see the doctor and for what, keeping in mind that annual checkups are free under the ACA. If doctor visits typically cost $150 and the patient has six appointments a year, a concierge practice offering the same services for $40 or $50 a month might be cheaper.
What concierge medicine allows you to do is to buy the most basic required health insurance coverage you can find – for catastrophic illnesses and accidents – while still being able to get affordable access to a doctor for your minor aches, pains and ailments.
This isn’t a solution for everybody, but because Obama and Democrats made such a mess out of the American health care system, concierge medicine is rising from the ashes to provide as many as possible with better care, better service and a cheaper price – without government meddling and mandated insurance schemes.
More:
- The Obamacare fail is so steep even Uncle Sam’s budget master has no idea how bad it will get
- Obamacare will be a job killer for years to come: CBO
- BLEEDING OUT: Insurers warn their Obamacare losses are unsustainable but the prez won’t budge
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