High-end medical option prompts Medicare worries

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

Every year, thousands of people make a deal with their doctor: I'll pay you a fixed annual fee, whether or not I need your services, and in return you'll see me the day I call, remember who I am and what ails me, and give me your undivided attention.

But this arrangement potentially poses a big threat to Medicare and to the new world of medical care envisioned under President Barack Obama's health overhaul.

The spread of "concierge medicine," where doctors limit their practice to patients who pay a fee of about $1,500 a year, could drive a wedge among the insured. Eventually, people unable to afford the retainer might find themselves stuck on a lower tier, facing less time with doctors and longer waits.

... Her doctor is affiliated with a Florida-based management company called MDVIP, a wholly owned subsidiary of consumer products giant Procter & Gamble that represents the largest group of concierge physicians in the country.

Read more: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Highend-medical-option-apf-94418692.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=

[Duer 157099]

1. $1,500 per year? That's cheap compared to insurance!

Why the hell not just pay an annual fee to the doctor?

[girl gone mad]

2. Combined with a catastrophic policy..

it's not a bad option for people who don't have access to an affordable group plan.

[Lyric]

4. I think the $1500 is more like a "country club fee".

It gets you in the door, but you still have to pay for whatever services you receive; the fee doesn't cover any of that. I guess it's just for the "privilege" of seeing a doctor who has a limited number of middle-class-or-higher patients. It's the difference between hanging out at a public rec center and hanging out at a country club. On the surface, it seems like you're paying a modest overhead fee in order to receive more personal attention, but from a marxist critique perspective...what you're REALLY paying for is a doctor that you don't have to share with people from a lower class than yourself.

Of course, very few (if any) people who take advantage of this arrangement would admit it, but consider this: how many black people do you suppose might be in a waiting room for a "concierge" physician?

Some of the worst, most socially-damaging kinds of racism are the institutional varieties. People don't have to scream in your face that you're an n-word. They don't have to wear white sheets and burn crosses. Maybe they don't even really THINK of themselves as racist. But these little, insidious ways that well-off white people use to separate themselves from the lower class (which is disproportionately minority race) are exactly the sorts of things that we should be moving AWAY from as a society--not toward. Racism doesn't have to be overt to be damaging. It doesn't have to be "on purpose". Some might claim that black people can take advantage of this too, but come on. That's like setting up a black-tie fundraiser gala and changing $1500 a plate. Theoretically, anyone can get in. But what are the odds that real, actual PEOPLE from a minority race will have anything more than token representation?

I think this whole idea is just sad. So sad. There have always been certain doctors who catered to the wealthy, but now we're apparently going to have doctors that cater to the middle-class too. I suppose the growing popularity of this kind of arrangement was a foregone conclusion the moment that the ignorant middle class heard that those poor brown people were going to be showing up at THEIR doctor's office very soon.

[SoCalDem]

5. Yep.. It's a retainer fee..

The assumption is that the patient will then pay out-of-pocket for whatever services are actually needed...like lab work, surgery, hospital costs, xrays, etc.

The $1500 is just a "reservation"...

When you reserve a table at a swanky restaurant, you still have to pay for the food & leave a tip..

[sueh]

3. I noticed the article this in the article:

"Popkin's mother didn't lose her Medicare. She's still covered for medications, specialist visits, hospitalizations and other services. But she has an additional level of personalized attention."

This lady is still paying for Medicare Part B and D which covers doctors/specialist visits and some prescription drugs.

While I like the concept of concierge medicine, I think the best way to accomplish it is with single-payer.