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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMy wife's GP Dr just told her she is becoming a concierge practice
that will cost $4,000 a year just to join, all medical cost will still cost the same or more.
She was told by email and said she has one week to decide. She now has to find a new GP, many aren't taking new patients. Medicare is also a barrier to some.
My guess is some Hedge Fund/Venture Capitalist bought the practice and wants to "optimize profits" at the expense of patients.
This is were this country is going, if you are wealthy enough, you get medical care, if not, Good Luck.
The for profit healthcare industry we have is "profits first, patients last".
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no_hypocrisy
(53,990 posts)If not a hedge fund buying the practice, a hospital will buy it. When enough medical practices are purchased, it's hard to compete with your independent practice.
pinkstarburst
(1,850 posts)Worse, a lot of them are happening in specialties where it's already hard to find any doctor who takes insurance, no one is taking new patients, and lots of doctors are close to retirement age.
Very demoralizing when you have to find a new doctor because yours is retiring or you move to town and no one in that specialty is taking insurance or new patients and your options are now the doctor that charges $800 cash per visit, or drive 3 hours to the next town for every appointment, which you may need every 3 months because you're chronically ill.
And there are more and more doctor's offices who are now refusing to take any patients on Medicare or Medicaid anymore. I was just reading the paperwork since I had an appointment yesterday, and sure enough, that specialist had it in bold type that they won't take Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, nothing but traditional insurance or cash pay.
We are not heading in a good direction.
Maru Kitteh
(31,115 posts)I’ve fucking had it with this country and what passes for care here. We are in the process of looking to move abroad. Early stages to be sure but quite serious I assure you.
bdamomma
(69,122 posts)I feel for you. People who want care will have to go other countries to get healthcare.
Just in case your interested.
Just finished listening to David Blight Yale professor who said the traitors in the Heritage Foundation want to erase the Enlightenment era and want to rewrite our history.
Go here on this thread to posting of Lawrence O'Donnell.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=20544498
Haggard Celine
(17,622 posts)These people are anti-American. The founding of the U.S. was the culmination of the Enlightenment, so if your beliefs are incompatible with Enlightenment philosophy, they're also incompatible with our democratic republican form of government. RW religion and Enlightenment philosophy are polar opposites.
ReRe
(12,162 posts)I'm not a history professor, but might as well be. Have enjoyed studying history all my life. It was such an important & timely topic for Lawrence O'Donnell to bring to his show. I loved Professor Blight's message and found myself finishing his sentences out loud before he did. I encourage everyone to click on your link and listen to him!
nwliberalkiwi
(418 posts)Try New Zealand, wonderful. Get Permanent Residence Status.
MrsCheaplaugh
(261 posts)You can actually practice medicine here, instead of spending all day wrestling with insurance companies.
calimary
(88,711 posts)
Wicked Blue
(8,398 posts)We'd been seeing a physician in Maryland for about 30 years, and his daughters eventually joined the practice. When he retired, two daughters formed a concierge practice, and the third joined a non-concierge practice connected to Johns-Hopkins. They were all fantastic doctors.
We couldn't afford the concierge practice on top of our yearly insurance deductible, so we went to the third daughter's practice.
lonely bird
(2,666 posts)Since the Velveeta Vulgarian has stirred up latent xenophobia we must look at legal immigration as it relates to healthcare. Our PCP is a CNP from, iirc, Senegal. He is employed through UH in one of their seemingly separate but wholly owned subsidiaries. UH, for those who don’t know, is University Hospitals which is one of three large groups in the Cleveland area. The other two are Cleveland Clinic and Metro General.
How many potential providers from outside the US will decide not to come for education or for work? How many will seek Europe, Latin America or Asia, the PRC in particular? How will we replace those who are gone by attrition? What about the costs associated with becoming a provider?
surfered
(10,731 posts)One benefit, you can call them anytime, including weekends.
RobinA
(10,463 posts)you will be much happier with your medical care. I mean, you're paying for good service and the doctor has time to provide it. It shouldn't be this way, but it is.
surfered
(10,731 posts)RobinA
(10,463 posts)If we want decent medicine in this day and age we have to pay extra.
KPN
(17,093 posts)using a concierge arrangement attractive. I asked him to explain, and then told him absolutely not. Obviously, he either was or is considering it or knows other physicians who are moving to that structure -- or he would not have asked. We live in a rural area in Oregon and Drs. have become increasingly difficult to find in the last decade especially.
multigraincracker
(36,808 posts)SINGLE PAYER.
Be like the rest of the civilized countries that pay less and have better results.
SheltieLover
(75,602 posts)
Trust_Reality
(2,255 posts)I think they might have a tough time answering. And it will give listeners something to think about.
markpkessinger
(8,870 posts)Sorry, but BOTH parties have dirty hands when it comes to this subject!
Dave says
(5,301 posts)My understanding is to get any reform — end of pre-existing condition exclusions, ability to buy imperfect but helpful insurance of any kind, cover 12 million+ people — a deal was made with the devil (Republicans). Better than nothing at all. But to claim both sides have dirty hands as if equally dirty is preposterous. I don’t buy it at all.
cliffside
(1,563 posts)Last edited Fri Aug 8, 2025, 11:23 PM - Edit history (1)
I'm not saying both were equal in caving into the half measure. The hope was this would be a bridge to SP, but some thought at the time it was a giveaway to the established for profit HC and Pharma industries. At the time well over 60% in polls wanted a NHC system.
And here we are when many will lose their HC because of the 'half measure.'
Dave says
(5,301 posts)… half measures of Democrats.
We are losing it (if we do) because of a fascist takeover of the United States. When they end social security, will it also be due to half measures of Democrats?
cliffside
(1,563 posts)stood up for a NHC system at the time.
Nigrum Cattus
(1,155 posts)markpkessinger
(8,870 posts)Look, the ACA certainly did some good, and was an improvement over what preceded it. But it is FAR from a perfect plan, and isn't ultimately a real solution to the problem of health care delivery in the United States. And Democrats DO own a share of responsibility, not only for its benefits, but also for its shortcomings!
This business of claiming that anything and everything any Democrat ever did was all that is getting REALLY tiresome!
radical noodle
(10,445 posts)They fear what they don't know and health care is so personal to them. Without a clear plan, communicated in an understandable way on how the switch would work and the system would maintain itself, there will continue to be opposition from people who think the current system works for them.
Quanto Magnus
(1,291 posts)Obama care bad.... cut costs... better bigger blah blah blah
All of it being lies of course...
aggiesal
(10,494 posts)When Concierge doctoring was first implemented, it meant doctor would go to your home to treat you.
So basically only the wealthy could afford this service.
But, this is exactly how doctors used to do it, back in the day.
This is because a doctor would get to see your living condition, that could trigger a clue why an illness is occurring.
I'm sure there are members of DU that can remember when a doctor came to their home.
I certainly remember it during the 60's & 70's.
Hornedfrog2000
(866 posts)We, in healthcare, know how people live. We see the same people constantly. Lower functioning people, less educated, people who just want you to do it for them, etc. They get heartburn and they are calling for an ambulance a couple times a month. It is unsustainable. Im all for helping people, but the system is completely broken. I do think medicaid patients should have at least some sort of charge for using ambulances, and the ER as their doctors office.
When we see a frequent flyer roll into the ER on a stretcher, big smile on their face, and chatting everyone up, it makes me pretty upset. We pay for that, and the insurance companies laugh to the bank. The providers have to cover their ass, so they order $25k in diagnostics so they dont get sued. I have literally had patients who bragged about their bills being $300k, or even a million dollars, which they didnt pay a cent of. They thought i was cool.
Then you hear about the quiet lady in the ER who has mild abdominal pain, and she is 20th in triage because her pain is mild, and she doesnt complain. Guess what? She died of an aortic aneurysm that day when they finally got to her.
Trust_Reality
(2,255 posts)Para722
(15 posts)The abuse of the system by the ones who can’t be billed more than 2 dollars is what’s clogging up the emergency rooms but hey what do I know….
30 years in EMS and ER’s
Dave says
(5,301 posts)Hornedfrog2000
(866 posts)Could use urgent care, or call their GP. I am literally talking about people who use the ER like every 2 weeks to a month, and use an ambulance they never pay for. Perfectly healthy people.
These are people who have medicaid most of the time, some in their 20s or 30s. It is costing us an absolute fortune. A lot of the time it is because they are bored, and have nothing better to do. Sounds harsh, but I see it literally daily.
People come in and say they are suicidal, or they have this ailment, or that ailment. When they get admitted they finally say, oh by the way, i lied to get up here, I just ran out of my meds and knew this would be the fastest way to get them. Im only saying charge them $50, and i bet a lot of it would stop.
That story of the woman who died, is true. She died on the operating table that night after we transfered her to another hospital 40 miles away. She was in her 40s, and that death will reverberate through this community. Leaving her kids and husband with a gaping hole. This also increases the risk that those kids have drug problems, end up incarcerated, or other serious mental health issues down the road.
Time was very much of the essence for her. She could be anyone of our family members.
ret5hd
(22,080 posts)those recreational abortions…and those free-loading fire department calls!
amiright? huh, amiright?
KentuckyWoman
(7,365 posts)"I am having chest pain." Even if he isn't. Jumped him near front of the line and every single time he was actually having another cardiac event. He just got so used to discomfort from Rheumatoid, that he ignored pain. Every single time by the time they got him hooked up he was in big trouble.
I really feel for the family of that lady you mentioned and the ER staff that day. It has to be hard sometimes to figure out who really needs it.
Granny Blue
(89 posts)Spine injury 1958, diagnosed 2017 when MRIs became sophisticated enough to “see” the damage. Years of agonizing pain, ridiculed as a hypochondriac, drug seeker, attention seeker, neurotic. Limited mobility, poor coordination, unable to type with no diagnosis Doctors couldnt be bothered to do any diagnosis, I was a single mother on Medicaid! Why waste time, they thought, she’s just looking for benefits! Lost all my teeth at 36 from malnutrition, but my sons are now over 6 feet. Poor balance, slow gait, limited arms, poor hand coordination, They thought I was smart, but lazy. Couldn’t meet expectations, always getting fired, ended up in under the †able light janitorial work but fed my kids. Started losing balance, breaking ribs, they thought I was a drunk. After all, a Medicaid slob! Useless eater! Lost use of my right arm, walked like Quasimoto till the Medicaid finally bought me a $4000 electric wheelchair. Finally accepted at a local pain clinic, they did surgery to install a spine stimulator in my thoracic spine. They got paid twice, once by Medicaid, once by the device manufacturer. Pretty good deal for them, but cost me another two years of agony. Got me out of the wheelchair, but still in agonizing pain in upper body, neck shoulders, hands. Just found out this week they should have/could have used a Boston Scientific device with two outputs, one foor the thoracic injury, one for the cervical, but that would have been effective medicine, not as profitable. Also had a failed ACDF at the base of my neck. Good for the surgeon, not so much for me! Replacement surgery right around Christmas. Wheelchair in storage.
Medicaid patients can't sue, no matter what is done, or not done to us. Awards are based on economic value: chronically poor/ill people have none. No lawyer is interested; no money in the case. Your “observations” are assumptions.
ret5hd
(22,080 posts)reminds me of the person that said “the ambulance isn’t your personal taxi to the hospital.”
yes. yes it is. that’s exactly what it is.
Response to ret5hd (Reply #88)
Hornedfrog2000 This message was self-deleted by its author.
Hornedfrog2000
(866 posts)You might not be able to sue for loss of wages, or workmans comp, or something along those lines, but I am almost positive you could sue for malpractice or neglegence. Also, just because a lawyer wont take your case doesn't mean that is the case for everyone.
Treating chronic pain is a touchy subject, so I wont even go there.
RobinA
(10,463 posts)a structural change that no one seems to have the imagination to make work. People who are in extreme pain for something nonlife threatening, people with other non-life threatening conditions that still need immediate attention need someplace to go that isn't the ER. They can't see their Doctor because they are only available business hours, the office closes for three hours at lunch time. Fridays forget it. Urgent care is useless (again, only open business hours and can't do much).
If we want these people out of the ER they need access to care elsewhere, and right now there is none. My local ER is about an 8 hour wait if you aren't spurting blood in all directions, 5 hours if you are. NO ONE (ok, almost no one) goes to the ER unless they think they have to. And even then many people don't. There's a HUGE service gap. Fill the gap!!!!! There's no will at all.
carpetbagger
(5,401 posts)I saw my last patient on April 4.
It wasn't all that long ago. The last time a doctor made a call to my house was my colleague in 1998 when my wife was on pregnancy bedrest, and we did the same for other patients in our practice.
But I agree, we're fossils who can't compete today. The home visit doctors are hedge fund employees whose job it is to run up bills. The VA was a nice place while it lasted, but it's being carved up for the contractors. The doctors who are successful keep ahead because they generate reems of paperwork quickly without doing anything for the patient, just a book report and shift the hard work to the other doctors. And working for a home hospice agency is sketchy, in most cases your job is to enroll healthy people who will live for a while then get the system to do the medical work through the insurance off the hospice. So I'm retired at 55.
Attilatheblond
(8,031 posts)Nothing to lose makes the public very dangerous.
RobinA
(10,463 posts)to charge more in the greedy sense. It's a way to spend more time with patients without a loss of revenue. Insurance expects Drs to see a patient for 6 seconds and then move one. They pay accordingly. Medicine as piecework. With concierge you are paying for more doctor time and attention. I'm not saying it's right, but let's tackle the correct problem for the correct solution.
IbogaProject
(5,511 posts)It is actually a third party service, and my wife's DR tried that and came crawling back asking her patients to rejoin as before. The third party comes in and offers the doctors incentives, but unless they get to a certain conversion the deal doesn't work. I'd say call your insurance and shop for a new doctor. The current doctor may cancel the Concierge scheme if they don't get the patient numbers. Now this was in NYC, Midtown East with no shortage of Doctors here so our experience might be different than most places.
C Moon
(13,387 posts)edhopper
(36,949 posts)so far three of my wife's friends gave them the number of their DRs. All are not taking new patients.
Renew Deal
(84,617 posts)There are plenty of others and urgent care can cover most situations.
Also, make them charge you. Continue making appointments unless they tell you to pay the membership fee. Many don't follow through on changing their practice. They just capture the early suckers.
edhopper
(36,949 posts)^^^^
pinkstarburst
(1,850 posts)In my area, this is happening not so much with primary care (yet) but with specialists. So if there is already a shortage of say, rheumatologists, and it was nearly impossible to get in as a new patient with anyone before, then a doctor or two retires, then some decide they are no longer taking Medicare/Medicaid/Tricare, then some start switching to the concierge/cash pay only model, it really strains the system in that area for any patients who need to see that type of specialist.
Yes, you can drive to the next city over, 3-4 hours away, but that gets tough to do when you may need an appointment every 3 months (and if you're like me and are disabled and can no longer drive.)
NNadir
(37,050 posts)...I had to change. I now use a practice owned by a hospital. I just couldn't afford it.
PatrickforB
(15,316 posts)no longer donating...
AllyCat
(18,428 posts)Still taking our crappy dental insurance. For now…
$400/year per patient. Then you get a 13% discount on services. 15% if you pay cash.
This sucks.
Native
(7,282 posts)hamsterjill
(16,886 posts)They will still FILE your other insurance, but you are responsible for the bottom line. I asked about it and was told that my insurance (which happened to be Delta at the time) had started paying so little that it wasn't covering the dentist's costs at the visits.
All it is in my opinion is to weed out patients who can't readily pay the dentist up front and directly. They don't want to hassle with having to file insurance claims and wait for payment.
The problem is, in my area, there is no real competition. This guy is a great dentist and he always has a full calendar of patients, so he can pretty much do what he wants.
AllyCat
(18,428 posts)I’ve already paid $1780 in out of pocket costs that would have been $500 with our old plan. Premiums are double.
I hate Delta. Many dentists in my area dropping them because they pay so little.
HappyLarge
(79 posts)Every physician I’ve known who’s gone to concierge care has done it because their panel is an unmanageable size. They simply need to reduce the number of patients they see to be able to provide the care they want to. Unfortunately, the way reimbursement works, without the unmanageable numbers of patients, they go broke or burnout. The concierge fees make it possible to stay solvent with less patients.
Silent Type
(12,289 posts)majority of patients they can go elsewhere unless they pay the fee insurance doesn't cover.
RobinA
(10,463 posts)You are talking on something about which you know nothing. They actually make less. When my father died at home my sister called his concierge doctor who was pumping gas in Pittsburgh at that moment. We live outside Philadelphia. Doctor (his Dr, not Dr Temp) answered the phone on a weekend morning, told my sister what to do. Made some calls himself. Smoothed things over very nicely. What other working person is going to do that?
Is this right? No. But the problem isn't the doctor.
Coloradan4Truth
(391 posts)You are correct. Concierge care allows doctors to give longer physicals and catch things doctors working with more patients don't. These are doctors wanting to provide better care than traditional corporate practices allow. The ones I know answer calls 24/7, or get back to you right away if they can't answer. In a typical practice they rotate between physicians to be on call, which means working weekends or for two people when one takes a vacation. They work long hours, because after spending a full day seeing patients, often making house calls for those who need it, they have to write notes, fill scripts, do billing, and deal with employee issues.
nilram
(3,444 posts)Many (though not all) concierge doctors won't bill insurance. Reduces their hassle, and overhead.
mucholderthandirt
(1,738 posts)He said it took hours, half the time they wouldn't pay, and he decided to give patients a break. If we paid cash, he charged a lot less and it saved him tons of time and money. We were happy to do it, the best doctor we ever had for our sons.
These days the clinics around here are owned by someone, like Duke Hospital's medical arm, or Moses Cone Hospital. It's just a money racket, as far as I can see. Still taking patients but there's no real care or concern for the patients. Get 'em in, give them prescriptions, get the next one in. Nice enough, but I know they just don't care anymore.
I can see many people not going into medicine in any role in the future, it's pretty heartless, takes many years and tons of money, and you work like you're on a factory floor.
Marthe48
(22,533 posts)we'll see a return to homeopathic treatment and remedies. That'll be ok for stubbed toes and shaving nicks, but say good-bye to modern medicine and life-saving treatments for the majority of Americans.
Wish our society could see a dr. because it's really sick.
IronLionZion
(50,616 posts)by making it very expensive and unobtainable. They just want money. And they use that money to treat themselves to a luxurious life, f everyone else.
Many of Europe's universal health care plans were developed because they had large amounts of post-war wounded people who needed care. And a guaranteed payment system like Canada's Medicare encouraged more providers to locate in underserved communities like rural Saskatchewan.
We all have our priorities. The US chooses profit over patients.
dalton99a
(91,531 posts)Hornedfrog2000
(866 posts)Groups because they get profit sharing. I wouldnt blame the providers. They are underpaid. Blame insurance, pharamceuticals, and the beauracrats at the hospital. We dont need CEOs of nonprofit hospitals bringing in 8 figures a year.
rubbersole
(10,948 posts)The LP that practices in the same building just had her insurance reimbursements cut by 50%. Health care "reform" is a quaint pipe dream. Shit is hitting the fan for anyone that isn't already wealthy.
happy feet
(1,252 posts)Easterncedar
(5,357 posts)Expensive, yes, but so was the poor and fractured care she was getting before, with no one coordinating her various specialist treatments and a general lack of commitment to her well-being. It shouldn’t be this way, of course.
My family care practice was bought by a hospital consortium which then recently closed the hospital entirely.. My GP luckily for me found a position in another hospital-owned practice not far from me. I was grateful to be accepted as a patient, as I really like my doctor. The whole thing feels terribly precarious.
edhopper
(36,949 posts)how many people do you think can afford and extra $4,000 a year?
I guess we can eat only two meals a day.
Easterncedar
(5,357 posts)What an obscene system.
edhopper
(36,949 posts)being able to afford it.
Easterncedar
(5,357 posts)She’s a retired schoolteacher. My point was only that the concierge practice isn’t necessarily inherently evil.
edhopper
(36,949 posts)for profit healthcare in a country without Universal is inherently evil. More Drs out of reach of anyone but the wealthy is inherently evil.
Easterncedar
(5,357 posts)pinkstarburst
(1,850 posts)I've had to stop seeing some great specialists because we couldn't afford it.
Scottie Mom
(5,837 posts)What a lot of people do not realize is that MA is PRIVATE INSURANCE. Original Medicare is government insurance and there is NO cap on the cost of medical treatment with Original Medicare. I have been very ill..still am ill... and I found that without knowing it, I had joined MA. Well, calling new referrals from my PCP resulted in one of the first questions being asked was do you have MA? I answered, "Yes..." and was told that they no longer were accepting MA patients. I asked why and finally one of the offices gave me the answer: The cap put on total medical treatment by MA. I immediately as fast as I could switched to Original Medicare and have not had one bit of a problem being accepted by new medical offices. I had not meant to switch to MA and did so by accident and then immediately changed back. Boy, am I glad I did this. I now have wonderful new doctors in the specialties I need without any muss or fuss.
IMO, MA is a scam...they start their calls with BS about Flex cards and other benefits and ask if I have gotten mine yet. So I let them BS through the whole scenario laid out for them and tell them I just switched from MA to OM because MDs in my area were not accepting new patients with MA. The responses are often stunned silence. I gave them a few names of the MD offices and told them to try to make an appointment as a new patient and see what happens when you say you have MA.
Bottom line: We need socialized medicine. PERIOD. There is no excuse for the BS we have in the USA for what is laughingly called medical insurance. It's medical treatment maybe...if you can afford it.
Trust_Reality
(2,255 posts)My wife and I have always had basic Medicare. We have both been through cancer treatments without unmanageable expenses. (We had a savings account. We still have most of it.) Medical providers often seem relieved that we have "Medicare only".
multigraincracker
(36,808 posts)My answer is 97, they hang up on me.
Fullduplexxx
(8,600 posts)
Totally Tunsie
(11,495 posts)She was barely a good enough doctor to continue to use with Medicare, never mind paying a $3,000/year fee for her services. It was a pleasure to have another reason to drop her.
As it happens, she was located in a neighboring state from me, and the "deal" of private visit service was good only for in-state patients although I was still closer in location to her than many of her in-staters. She also would not phone across state lines - WTH??!!??
Good riddance.
I've since moved a thousand miles away and have a doctor who makes once monthly in-home visits for general care plus additional visits as necessary. Every quarter I get a Medicare and prescription review - also in home. EKGs and x-rays are done in my bedroom, in my comfort. Physical Therapy, 2-3x weekly, was done in-home; Specialist care (Cardiac, Pulmonary) is at the nationally-acclaimed hospital less than a mile away. All of this is covered by Medicare with no hassle. My only (minor) complaint is that their scheduling can be annoying, but I'll deal with it. (They basically tell me when they're coming rather than checking first if I'm available.)
From their website:
Give Patients Flexible Solutions
House Calls offers healthcare services that bring the convenience of a traditional doctor's office visit directly to the comfort of the patient's home. Patients have the flexibility to choose between in-person visits, at home, in a clinic, or wherever they reside. We provide personalized care plans, medication management, the ordering of tests, labs, specialist referrals, follow-up appointments, remote patient monitoring, and much more.
In 2 1/2 years, I've never received a bill despite being in the hospital for 2 weeks last year. Why can't all health care be this way?
Native
(7,282 posts)
Jilly_in_VA
(13,678 posts)Husband tried to get into my family practice group but they weren't taking new patients at the time. He ended up going to a nurse practitioner who he liked a lot and who did more for him than his doctor ever did. She was the one who diagnosed him with Type II Diabetes and started him on his diet and weight loss plan and really did wonders for him. Then his insurance company decided she wasn't on their "list" any more so he had to switch to a different group and he is now on his second doctor in that group. Being a nurse myself, I keep an eye on things and I am not exactly happy with them but they are still better than his former PCP who I always regarded as a quack anyway. Oh, and the concierge practice? It flopped. I have no idea what happened to the doctor.
Tree Lady
(12,957 posts)Both of us this past year had to see her when doctor was busy. We like her more, she spends more time and is really trying to figure things out. Doctor used to but I can tell he is burnt out now. The system is ruining our doctors.
Jilly_in_VA
(13,678 posts)She prefers her to a doctor. I see a female PCP and I like her a lot, but I have threatened that if my PCP's office links up with the local hospital (so far they have only a loose link) I will break with them and go to an office in New Market, which is closer and linked with Valley Health in Winchester. I hate the local hospital with a major passion. They can't keep doctors on staff, and the ones they do keep are mostly idiots. And don't even get me started on the nurses.
Winchester is generally a better hospital. So is Augusta, which is where I had my abdominal surgeries and where my ENT doc is.
KS Toronado
(22,573 posts) Horse with no Name
(34,202 posts)Forcing more and more and more productivity into the doctors. Mine just retired but she said she was seeing patients before 8 am, during lunch and after hours trying to keep up. She was still being asked to see more because they wanted her seeing patients every 15 minutes and she couldn’t do it.
Not to mention that patients are more and more unreasonable and demanding and outright mean. In a private concierge practice, you don’t have to put up with that. Most hospital systems force you to see those patients anyway.
As an RN, I can tell you that most of my colleagues are ticking off the time until they can retire. It’s not what it used to be.
I recommend that your wife find a good Nurse Practitioner to take over her care. They are worth their weight in gold. Good luck.
cliffside
(1,563 posts)my daughter has gone from a large hospital system in FL to a concierge practice there and now back north 
Currently in a more rural hospital that has 30 minute visits. I remember when she was first hired by the large hospital, salary was not only based on patients seen but also collections, this was eleven years ago.
RN's are underpaid and underrated but all so valuable, thank you!
And agree about NP's, hopefully they will fill the gap.
Marie Marie
(10,807 posts)to handle your primary care. Think of how many Indian doctors have been educated and chose to stay and practice here. Will Trump's immigration policies discourage would be doctors from other countries from attending medical school and then practicing here. Will he round up those who are currently practicing medicine here for years while not being a natural born citizen? If we lose all foreign born medical workers, we will be as screwed as the farmers.
customerserviceguy
(25,406 posts)just got tired of dealing with insurance denials and runarounds. My significant other's niece worked for a really good eye doctor in NYC, she said he got tired of the paperwork hassles, and besides, there were plenty of well off people in the city who would pay him whatever he asked for his services.
EmmaLee E
(267 posts)I was a member of Kaiser Permanente while I was working. One place for GPs and specialists (who all had access to your records).
Had an operation there. All prescriptions filled there at a reasonable copay.
I thought this was the way medicine was going -
I just called my Ophthalmologist to make an appointment only to find that she'd left the practice to join the HMO.
I may be wrong, but as I recall HMO doctors
----are on salary
----don't have to pay for office space, office staff, supplies
----don't have to pay their own malpractice insurance.
what happened?
Gimpyknee
(1,025 posts)My GP turned to a concierge practice years ago. I am happy he did. Service is much better. Absolutely no waits in waiting room. I can call him directly, do not have to go through a call center. No rushing during visits. Cost is considerably lower than your $4000.
edhopper
(36,949 posts)but should we have a healthcare system that excludes most people?
lostnfound
(17,345 posts)i might do the same as you, in spite of feeling selfish about it. But surely you recognize the direct connection?
Jrsygrl96
(263 posts)And he wanted $5000 at the time. It took awhile to find another good one, but I love my current doctor!
soldierant
(9,223 posts)But it was for $1800 a year, or maybe a little less, not $4000. And I think routine checkups would be included on that figure. I still couldn't afford it. He did make sure I was stocked up with prescriptions to give me more time to search. At least I ended up happy I wish your wife the best of luck finding a new one. My internet search helped a lot.
Auggie
(32,778 posts)It was either staff up to handle everybody (3000 patients) or switch to concierge. I pay $2000 a year and can call him on his cell ... though I never do.
He cured my left and right shoulder bursitis with a single shot in his office. In and out. The wait for an orthopedist would have been eight weeks. It's worth it, IMO.
Hugin
(37,242 posts)to being heavily subsidized in all areas training, research, cost, availability, & etc by the bulk of the lower classes. They think they are on an ivory tower and their money can make up for their contempt of their fellow humans.
It can't.
Hekate
(100,130 posts)He did the courteous thing though and gave us several months notice. Also he’s now got not one but two PAs in his office, and has made it clear that those who don’t want to do the concierge thing can utilize them and our insurance interface will remain the same.
So we, who are about his age and have been with him over 35 years, are sticking with his practice but not signing up for concierge. We’ve known for ages that all our docs are eventually going to have to retire — they and we were fairly young when we met and we are all now old.
It’s hard changing medical personnel. I’ve lost some to clinics being sold. And I’ve lost at least 3 to the practitioner getting fed up to the teeth with Blue Cross and other insurance 🤬 companies.
Best of luck. Be well
dawn5651
(741 posts)in to boxes in the ground...
vapor2
(3,558 posts)AND yes, expensive but never have to wait more than 10 minutes, get blood drawn in his office and ACCESS is everything. BUT don't know how much longer it will be affordable for us.
Ms. Toad
(38,051 posts)Medicare Advantage might be a barrier, but only 1% of all non-pediatric physicians have opted out of Medicare. If they didn't opt out of Medicare, Medicare, per se, isn't a barrier.
Emile
(39,909 posts)AdamGG
(1,855 posts)The doctor was the best PCP I've ever had, super attentive, and I didn't really fault him for looking to earn closer to what specialists from Harvard make rather than making much less as a PCP. I switched PCP's, but his concierge practice filled up quickly with older wealthy people who valued the care he gave and then there were no more openings.
What seems ridiculous in your wife's case is that they gave her 1 week to decide. That's embarrassing. An existing patient should be given 6 months notice for something like this, or at a minimum 3 or 4.
Response to edhopper (Original post)
Martin68 This message was self-deleted by its author.
Nigrum Cattus
(1,155 posts)And comment that she feels like it's extortion.
https://www.healthgrades.com/
Jilly_in_VA
(13,678 posts)and RateMDs. People read all of these, but not all at the same time.
SunSeeker
(57,393 posts)It's getting harder and harder to see a doctor.
masmdu
(2,637 posts)This is a free country. Just because a Dr. tells her so doesn't mean your wife has to become a concierge practice.
edhopper
(36,949 posts)the bigger point.
OldBaldy1701E
(9,812 posts)And yet, this mentality is perfectly acceptable to the people of this nation.
Otherwise, it would no longer exist.
Good luck with things.
Remember, they want us dead. They are doing everything they can to make sure of it.
Abstractartist
(404 posts)One problem is the true complacency of some of US government and some of its citizens.
The last time the democrats were completely in charge of the government..(ie whitehouse, both houses of congress), did single payer even come up in the discussion? Actually yes, in a way, “Medicare for all” is similar, but unfortunately, I know many of my own family members tell me they didn’t want it because even though the cost might sound lower, their taxes would skyrocket to pay for it.
“Countries like Canada and Taiwan have successfully implemented single-payer systems. These systems have shown to improve access to healthcare and maintain high public satisfaction rates.
In the U.S., proposals like "Medicare for All" aim to establish a similar system, but face significant political hurdles. Despite these challenges, many Americans support the idea of a single-payer system as a means to achieve universal healthcare”……Harvard University
Solution…. Vote like you never did before. Make it so it would be impossible to have bad healthcare here ever again. MAGA is and will die out…. (I predict 2028 will be the end of Trump and MAGA.) Social Security will survive, Medicare may be adjusted, but will survive. We as a country will survive. MAGA WILL BECOME TEA PARTY 2.
LilElf70
(1,311 posts)went thru this years ago. We had the same PCP for decades. He was a "so so" doctor, and we were surprised he thought he was a concierge doctor. We never had a complaint. His staff was another issue. When he offered us a concierge service, I was asking myself, what the hell do I get for this service? What the hell happened to the oath they take? Since when was more money going to start driving the industry? We were given options and we both picked a much younger doctor. We could not be any happier. He's smart, attentive, and offers options for conditions you have.
So yeah, I'm glad this happened, but what about the money issue, the oath, and the services?
tulipsandroses
(8,106 posts)I want to address the for profit issue first.
Health care is a business.
Everyone else is expected to be paid for their work. Health care practitioners should be paid for their work and expertise. Sometimes people throw around for profit in the healthcare industry as if its a dirty word. Its not. I'm an NP. I love what I do. But I am not doing it for free. The govt is not paying for school or paying off massive student loans that we leave school with.
More and more providers are moving away from insurance. I can't blame them. Its too much of a damn headache. It takes up too much of your time, long after you have seen the patient.
Sometimes the work you do is not even paid. That's the side patients don't see. You submit a claim and the insurance can decide not to pay the claim after you've done the work. Then they create more paperwork for providers. Oh, you didn't have this paperwork done just exactly as we wanted it so, nope we are not paying you. Nothing to do with whether or not you saw the patient, treated the patient.
I don't know if that is the case here. There are many independent providers now that only take cash or have moved to some type of membership model.
I have a colleague that does concierge therapy. He is totally independent.
Not spending hours doing paperwork for insurance, not having to worry about rejected claims and clawbacks. I can't blame him for taking that route.
edhopper
(36,949 posts)And I mean NO ONE has ever said providers should not be paid or earn a living. NO ONE!
But healthcare becoming more and more unaffordable to working people (let alone taking away the safety net for the poor) is not the way to go.
Do healthcare providers make money in EVERY OTHER industrial country that has Universal Healthcare? Yes they do, but there Healthcare is seen as a public need, not a business first. And that is the problem here.
tulipsandroses
(8,106 posts)You will not get any argument from me about how broken the system is. I've worked in hospitals, community clinics, private practice, my own private clinic- thus I've seen the failures over and over.
My point is there are valid reasons some providers just are not willing to deal with insurance anymore. I don't believe they should be labeled as greedy for doing so. Patients don't see how the sausage is made, in terms of dealing with insurance on our end.
For example, if they reject a claim for whatever stupid reason they want to, you then have to resubmit, get in a fight with them for weeks or months to get paid on that claim. Long after you have seen the patient. If you are a one man or one woman show or small clinic with limited staff, you don't have time to spend hours dealing with insurance companies.
There is another thread about the rising cost of health insurance. In my work, I see more people that now have high deductible plans. High deductible plans don't pay for anything until you meet your deductible. Depending on the situation, a concierge or membership plan with a provider might be a better idea for those choosing high deductible plans. I see people with 5-10 K HDP plans, they are never going to hit that deductible and have to pay out of pocket every visit.
You mentioned venture capitalists, the last clinic I worked, the owner sold it to a VC, but remained on staff. He sold because it was too costly to run. Rent, utilities, paying staff, all the costs associated with running the clinic. There are two very legitimate sides to this issue.
On provider message boards, the posts about being burnt out and frustrated never seem to end.
I see people here saying that bad reviews should be left for the provider. Why? None of us know why that choice was made. Maybe this is a very burnt out provider that wants to see less patients for their own sanity and peace of mind. Or maybe the provider is just being greedy.
We don't know.
In a better system, if a provider wanted to see cash only patients, then it should be easier to transition those patients to providers accepting insurance.
Last year when the insurance payment system was hacked, many providers, clinics went for weeks without getting paid.
Some providers are just tired of the stress dealing with insurance.
edhopper
(36,949 posts)and it will not be fixed. Too many Republicans and "centralist Democrats" to do what needs to be done.
In the end people won't get healthcare, and people will die.