Our Doctor (GP) changing to "Concierge Service"

So we got a form letter from our GP today with a lot of "market forces" and "random events" language, saying he is changing to a Concierge Service practice. His long time office manager, physicians assistant and other office staff abruptly left. No idea why.

He is now going to offer a subscription, at $150 a month, to be a patient. Limited to the first 300 to sign a contract. He suggested those who's insurance won't be accepted change to a high deductible plan so they can stay with him - "It's about the same as a cable bill". The $150/month isn't to cover office visits or medical care, it's just to be one of the 300. You'll still have to pay for all that in addition. So $150 x 300 is $45,000.00 a month. Over a year that's $540,000.00 just in subscription fees.

Not sure why I'm posting this here, just felt like I needed to. I realize it's expensive to be a doctor (malpractice insurance must be stratospheric), but damn. Time to look for another GP. Yay.

 

Provably costs him $400,000 just to stay in business but yeah def time for a new doc

 

Med. School ain't cheap. Most doctors are servicing student loan debt that's eating them alive.

 

Don’t get sick, problem solved.

 

.

This has been happening for quite a few years. Some good physicians are tired of being nickel & dimed by managed care lackeys. If they can do better in a free market more power to them.

Your thread title is deceptive, misleading clickbait.

 

A friend once told me “don’t go to the doctor, they’ll find something wrong with you.”
OP find a new dr.

 

I have heard stories of this very scenario happening in various countries, including the U.S.. It's like "doctor on a retainer", or "Costco Doctor". You pay a membership fee for nothing more than the right to walk through their door and partake of their service, whereas non-members are booted to the curb. I have mixed opinions about the practice. Now if part of this concierge style healthcare is that everytime you go to the doctor, you get a solid 30+ minutes with the DOCTOR themselves, and not the typical 30 minutes in the waiting room, 5 minutes with the PA/nurse having your vital signs taken, 45 minutes waiting on the doctor, 5 minutes with the doctor...... then I would seriously consider it. The current system is a total fuster cluck, driven entirely by greed and lack of caring about the actual practice of medicine.

 

The medical machine is such a scam. They don't want you healthy, there's no profit in it. I haven't been to a quack in over a decade, told the wife if I get really sick just shoot me, she owes me that much LOL

 

I would Tell him hes sick....

 

Sounds like $150 a month buys you access to all the medical prescriptions you want, no questions asked.

 

Let me start of by clarifying that the following is NOT a political opinion:

But I've always wondered how medical insurance actually works. Think about your vehicle insurance. If you get a flat tire, or need new windshield wipers, do you make a claim? Of course not, vehicle claims are for catastrophic events that you couldn't cover out of pocket.

Similarly, think about your home insurance. Do you file a claim when your deadbolt lock starts sticking, or you need a new air filter? Nope, home insurance is again for the big ticket events.

So how does healthcare insurance work, then? If I get a sniffle or a cough, I go to my doctor, who charges my insurance company $750, but I only pay a $20 copay. How is that system sustainable?

 

Without going into the politics of fair and sustainable,

Between you and your employer, you’ve paid thousands into that insurance company in monthly installments to have coverage and be able to see that doctor to begin with.

It’s a pot of money and Most folks will have paid well beyond what they actually use annually. (And if it didn’t, insurance companies would simply raise their rates)

Alternatively, I’m not most folks, and took my health insurance for nearly $2mil in 2020.

A big Thank You to all you healthy folks for supporting me

 

they won't even let you die if you are chronically ill. dogs get better treatment than humans in the USA.

 

Move to Canada.

 

If I want to be seen on my time, I simply walk into an Urgent Care and pay my $20 co-pay. Service on the spot.

 

Robin Cook's "Crisis" is a good read. It deals with Concierge Service doctors and patients who get to be a bit too needy. Good read.

@916carl 916 as in Six Cylinder Porsche, or Sacramento area code? I know Concierge Service is common in NY City (near impossible to find a
Primary Care Physician) but has spread to other areas.

 

Keep seeing commercials for this.

https://goforward.com/

 

Zip, but a Porsche would be nice!

 

i'm not a Canadian citizen. just a chronically ill American waiting around for some healthcare.