Doctors now in forced in system?

[MsDoodahs]

A doctor in NY was shut down for doing that - told he was running an insurence company without a licence. There is a thread about it here somewhre.

-t

I use a physician that operates a concierge practice.

It is in no way illegal and there are many physicians who have already shifted their practice to the concierge method.

 

[Krugerrand]

Here's a pediatrician that does concierge in SW PA:
http://www.pinnaclepediatrics.com/

I'd expect more of this. This guy does exclusively house calls - which makes a world of sense for me for a pediatrician. Taking kids to the doctors always ends up w/ more sicknesses.

 

[MelissaWV]

There are a lot of stories along the lines of avaroth's, and what gets me is when people who've had those experiences are pro-bill.

I have heard similar experiences capped off with something along the lines of insurance not covering it because of some obscure reason... and then the person turns around and says it's important for everyone to have health insurance? Even President Obama talks about his mother "battling with insurance companies" while she was sick. Why oh why would you MANDATE that ALL OF US have to go through the same "battle"? Who really thinks that insurance companies will suddenly change some of their worst practices, now that they have a guaranteed clientele?

I am not entirely anti-insurance, but the quality of care and the low premiums I have been used to are going to go away over the next couple of years. Yesterday confirmed what I'd suspected ever since the bill passed: my primary care physician is retiring. He lost two more patients to old age, and I am moving, and he sees the writing on the wall about the bill. He said, when we talked yesterday, that he's had more than enough money to retire for well over a decade now, but he enjoys practicing medicine and kept at it. However, he spent most of Monday explaining the healthcare bill to patients instead of talking about what's wrong with them. He and I share a lot in the realm of political opinion.

Basically, he forsees rising premiums, rising processing times (claims already take a long time to process... but now there will be much longer processes put in place), and diminishing quality. Without more new primary care physicians, the system will not be able to handle it, and most insurances that the Government will spring for (he guesses) will rely on the ole "go to your doctor, get a referral, go to the specialist, go back to your doctor for another referral the specialist suggested..." routine. He also said that he wasn't sure where I should go to get my labs done, because there is going to be a hell of a backlog coming up.

It was generally a gloomy visit.

So, no, doctors aren't really forced into the system... and a portion of them will just retire rather than deal with having to learn a whole new system and waiting even longer for basic reimbursements.

 

[MsDoodahs]

I also expect the concierge practice model to experience a lot of growth.

Also, I think there will be a lot more 'medical tourism.'

The result of "healthcare reform" will be something those who supported it didn't expect to get: a two tiered healthcare system.

The vast majority of people will suffer under "healthcare" controlled by the state, and the wealthy will continue to obtain quality care from the best providers who aren't part of the system the state controls. Even if that means the wealthy leave the US for their healthcare needs, the wealthy WILL continue to obtain quality care.

The "reform" simply puts such care completely outside the reach of average americans. Which was the goal all along - the US can't afford to pay bennies to the population, so it behooves the state to ensure that a lot of those people die.

Note that Canada has such a two tiered system, though many Canadians will fiercely deny this reality. Canadians with means who find themselves in need of care that their state run system doesn't provide (or doesn't provide within a reasonable time frame) go outside Canada to get their care. Canadians without means to obtain care outside Canada....those folks suffer.

 

[tangent4ronpaul]

re: aravoth

"If you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebra's"

Medical students get that drilled into their heads for years.

"Everything has become cook-book medicine right now,..You are going to go to your doctor and get what they call evidence-based medicine and that's about it . You're going to have a lot of unhappy doctors so what's the point (of universal care) will the quality of coverage be really worth it."
-- Bob, A Clarence-based doctor, calling WBEN's Hardline Sunday, last name unknown.


I don't think it addresses some of the things that were of most concern to me, and that is the cost of health care and the approach of medical liability, which does nothing to improve care and adds a huge amount of expense to care. That wasn't addressed at all. It was totally ignored as far as I can see,"
-- Dr. John Hellriegle, MD, an Amherst-based OB/GYN.

On the sunscription based approach - I like it! I think he was shut down because he was in NYC.

Also of note, NYC blood collection efforts after 9/11 were stepped on when some agency came in and said that only licenced phlebotomists could collect blood and the MD's, nurces. paramedics, etc that were doing so had to stop. The ammount of blood collected slowed to a trickle because of it.

On medical tourism, a PA I know said his practice was considering doing all surgery in another country if the bill passed. many docs are talking early retirement, and we allready have a growing shortage of docs.

-t

 

[MsDoodahs]

On the sunscription based approach - I like it! I think he was shut down because he was in NYC.

I have not looked in depth at that situation, but I suspect you're right - any grief that doc was subjected to was likely a result of the fucked up laws in the area where he located his practice.

On medical tourism, a PA I know said his practice was considering doing all surgery in another country if the bill passed. many docs are talking early retirement, and we allready have a growing shortage of docs.

-t

I read that there is a supermarket chain in the NE that sends all its employees to ... maybe India? anyway, they send the employee AND a companion oversees for all hip and knee replacements.

 

[aravoth]

There are a lot of stories along the lines of avaroth's, and what gets me is when people who've had those experiences are pro-bill.

I know, this confuses the hell out of me.

When I heard that the orthopedist we were going to see did not accept insurance, I breathed a sigh of relief. For one, I wouldn't have to deal with referral hassles, and two, no allegiance to an insurance company meant that he had nothing to rely on on. Which in turn meant that he stood or fell based on his professional performance.

Not surprisingly, He is continuously ranked as one of the top pediatric orthopedists on the North American Continent.

Was it spendy? Yeah, very. But then, I'm the kind of person that saves money. I don't have a credit card, nor do I have any debt. Because I made choices in life to live a certain way. It is because of those choices that my wife and I were able to pay, out of pocket, for the best treatment money can buy. We are not wealthy people, by any stretch of the imagination. My Wife stays home with the children. We are a single income family. We could afford it because we saved, instead of spent it all on useless shit.

Do I think that doctor is greedy for charging that much? No. He's the best, and he wasn't born that way. He busted his ass to have his own medical office, he busted his ass to be ranked in the top of his field, and he busted his ass to have all those hot young ladies staffing that medical office of his.

He spent two weeks in Haiti, brought all his own equipment down there during the quake aftermath. Who knows how many kids get to keep their arm or leg because of him.

You can't make a man like that into a slave. Faced with the prospect of being forced to accept government issued insurance, I think he would save his pride and retire on top. Which scares the shit out of me. Because the next time my son injures himself, who in the hell will I take him too? Some mediocre shitbag at a government hospital? We tried that already, it obviously did not work out well.

I never thought that legislation could effect a person in such a direct way.

 

[Working Poor]

Whats the moral of the story?

Publicly funded Health care is not only tyrannical, it is extremely dangerous.

I hope you wrote a letter to the President.

 

[pacelli]

I post this because it does not seem discussed much in the threads...

If every person is required to carry insurance, then every Doctor must accept 3rd party payments.
i.e. There are no more cash transactions (or at least insignificant percentage) of cash transactions with Medical Providers..

National Provider ID hoorah!

I knew of many Doctors who stopped accepting 3rd party, Medicare/Medicaid payments....


Furthermore, everyone now gets an entry in the Medical Information Bureau ...MIB, as well as likely a medical id number.

In order to apply to accept any form of insurance, all doctors and healthcare providers are required to get a National Provider Identification number (its called an NPI number). That's nothing new.

I don't accept insurance because I haven't applied to be on any insurance panels. If clients can't afford service, I'm ethically obligated to offer a sliding scale fee whether they are paying by cash, check, gold, or silver. I'm also ethically permitted to engage in bartering.

 

[MsDoodahs]

I hope you wrote a letter to the President.

WHY?

We are sooooo far beyond the letter writing phase....

 

[ChaosControl]

I won't buy insurance.
I won't go to a doctor who accepts insurance.
I won't pay the fine.

**** the gov.

 

[Brian Defferding]

I know, this confuses the hell out of me.

When I heard that the orthopedist we were going to see did not accept insurance, I breathed a sigh of relief. For one, I wouldn't have to deal with referral hassles, and two, no allegiance to an insurance company meant that he had nothing to rely on on. Which in turn meant that he stood or fell based on his professional performance.

Not surprisingly, He is continuously ranked as one of the top pediatric orthopedists on the North American Continent.

Was it spendy? Yeah, very. But then, I'm the kind of person that saves money. I don't have a credit card, nor do I have any debt. Because I made choices in life to live a certain way. It is because of those choices that my wife and I were able to pay, out of pocket, for the best treatment money can buy. We are not wealthy people, by any stretch of the imagination. My Wife stays home with the children. We are a single income family. We could afford it because we saved, instead of spent it all on useless shit.

Do I think that doctor is greedy for charging that much? No. He's the best, and he wasn't born that way. He busted his ass to have his own medical office, he busted his ass to be ranked in the top of his field, and he busted his ass to have all those hot young ladies staffing that medical office of his.

He spent two weeks in Haiti, brought all his own equipment down there during the quake aftermath. Who knows how many kids get to keep their arm or leg because of him.

You can't make a man like that into a slave. Faced with the prospect of being forced to accept government issued insurance, I think he would save his pride and retire on top. Which scares the shit out of me. Because the next time my son injures himself, who in the hell will I take him too? Some mediocre shitbag at a government hospital? We tried that already, it obviously did not work out well.

I never thought that legislation could effect a person in such a direct way.

I really really wish there were more doctors out there like this, that don't accept insurance or Medicaid/Medicare.

I really hope these doctors continue to buck the system and not accept insurance anyway. This UHC bill is already bad enough, but the mandate is the worst part of it, because of the situation you just spoke about in detail on.

 

[hopeforamerica]

More docs will change their practices over to concierge medicine and avoid the entire mess.

That's exactly what my doctor did one year ago. He saw the writing on the wall.

 

[ChaosControl]

Speaking of all this, does anyone know a good resource for finding both medical doctors and dentists who don't accept insurance and just go on a direct pay approach?

 

[MsDoodahs]

Try a google search using "concierge care" and your city.