Cash only Doctors

[kelroy55]

Not a bad idea, I would pay a monthly fee.


Cash-only doctors abandon the insurance system - Jun. 11, 2013

[drumsncode]

Interesting article. When the government gets out of control, industrious people will find a better way. I'm so tired of calling up a doctor's office and the first thing they ask you about is your insurance, not your medical condition!

[betts]

A cash only doctor is going to refer you if you get a serious illness so the article's fears are unfounded. Most health care costs are generated by serious illnesses so one would still need insurance. I think this is fine if people are using cash only doctors for things like health screenings and annual physicals. My concern is the possibility that because the patient is paying cash regularly, the "Safeway" (my husband's term) brand of interaction develops. This is where a patient thinks that because he or she has paid something, they need to have something to take home - i. e. a prescription for antibiotics for any illness. Adults almost never have bacterial infections that require antibiotics and yet everyone seems to think they need them for every cold or sore throat. And our children and elderly pay the price. I'd like to play a video of a child having a MRSA abscess incised and drained every time an adult asks for an antibiotic for a cold or sore throat, both of which are almost assuredly viral and untreatable by anything but tincture of time.

[Just the facts]

While I like the idea - didn't he just become his own insurance company in spirit. You pay a monthly premium and you get no copay.

[Hawk405359]

While I like the idea - didn't he just become his own insurance company in spirit. You pay a monthly premium and you get no copay.

Sort of, but the issue with insurance isn't the concept of insurance itself as much as it is the execution, namely how the payout system and the red tape ultimately affects teh health care decisions of patients and docors. When you're outside of the system, you don't have to deal with some of the inane things that come from having a large corporation or the government having some control of health-care decisions.

[bombermwc]

Screw this. I'm not going to pay a membership fee to see my doctor. Go with telemedicine for the easy stuff and then worry about a visit in person for complicated stuff. My physician has both virtual and brick and mortar offices and I save more out of pocket because of my stupid insurance by paying cash only for the online visit than my portion of a office visit.

[BlackmoreRulz]

Anything like this in the OKC area? Quick Google search didn't turn up much other than Surgery Center.

[BBatesokc]

There are certainly exceptions, but I truly believe most people have the biggest impact on their healthcare costs by simply living a healthy lifestyle.

People will complain about the costs of going to the doctor and maintaining health insurance - all while eating a double with cheese, taking a puff from their cigarette and consider getting up to walk to the frig 'excercise.'

My monthly gym membership probably saves me more in healthcare than anything else and my insurance provider gives me a check once a year to cover to my membership as long as my physical reflects overall health (weight, cholesterol, blood pressure, etc.).

Most people would consider my insurance 'crap' - My deductible is about $10,000 for anything outside a doctor's office visit. That said, my wife and I spend hardly anything on health care and we are in our 40's.

I'd do a cash only system if the monthly was about $40 and procedures were 1/3-1/4 of the standard rate. But a person would be insane to not have coverage for major medical needs.

[ljbab728]

I'd do a cash only system if the monthly was about $40 and procedures were 1/3-1/4 of the standard rate. But a person would be insane to not have coverage for major medical needs.

You're absolutely correct. In spite of living a very healthy lifestyle, accidents and other emergencies do happen.

[PennyQuilts]

Will he have to change his business model when people are forced to purchase expensive insurance? I wouldn't think they'd pay the premiums and then pay cash for services on top of that.

[kelroy55]

Will he have to change his business model when people are forced to purchase expensive insurance? I wouldn't think they'd pay the premiums and then pay cash for services on top of that.

A mid level plan could be as low as $40 a month.

In California, a 40-year-old who makes less than four times the federal poverty level - that is, $95,000 for a family of four or $46,000 for an individual - would pay as little as $40 per month for a mid-level plan in which about 70 percent of medical costs and all preventive care is covered.

[Just the facts]

There are certainly exceptions, but I truly believe most people have the biggest impact on their healthcare costs by simply living a healthy lifestyle.

People will complain about the costs of going to the doctor and maintaining health insurance - all while eating a double with cheese, taking a puff from their cigarette and consider getting up to walk to the frig 'excercise.'

This is probably the biggest disconnect in the entire healthcare debate. The pro-Obamacare group cites the relative health of Europeans and credit it to socialized medicine, when really it is their lifestyle habits that even make their socialized medical system possible. If they ate food like we do and spent all their time in cars they couldn't afford socialized medicine.

[kelroy55]

This is probably the biggest disconnect in the entire healthcare debate. The pro-Obamacare group cites the relative health of Europeans and credit it to socialized medicine, when really it is their lifestyle habits that even make their socialized medical system possible. If they ate food like we do and spent all their time in cars they couldn't afford socialized medicine.

I think it's a combination of the two.

[Dubya61]

In my experience (living in southern Europe for about 10 years and Germany for 6, the lifestyle is so incredibly different there starting in the kitchen, where there is almost NO storage, and the food you cook for that night's meal is generally purchased that day. The lifestyle there is so prone to living outside of your house and in JTF's Third Place. They are so much less sedentary on the whole. Does socialized medicine contribute? Maybe, but not so much that I'd consider it even a secondary factor in the general public health.

[Just the facts]

All I know is when I started riding my bike for short errands I lost over 20 pounds in the first 60 days. A five mile ride that used to tire me out doesn't even phase me now.

[kelroy55]

All I know is when I started riding my bike for short errands I lost over 20 pounds in the first 60 days. A five mile ride that used to tire me out doesn't even phase me now.

I need to start doing that

[Just the facts]

I need to start doing that

I encourage you to give it a try. In addition to being more fit and feeling better, I have also saved enough gas to pay for the bike so essentially I now got the bike for free and ever mile I ride it is money in my pocket.

[kelroy55]

I encourage you to give it a try. In addition to being more fit and feeling better, I have also saved enough gas to pay for the bike so essentially I now got the bike for free and ever mile I ride it is money in my pocket.

I've been wanting to get another bike for quite a while and really just need to go get one. There's a bike shop 2 minutes from my house so there's no excuse.