My wife's GP Dr just told her she is becoming a concierge practice

[tulipsandroses]

111. You will not get an argument from me against Universal Healthcare

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.