I got a letter from my family doc on Friday stating that starting in two months he is limiting his practice to the first 600 people that sign up and pay an additional $1650 a year on top of regular fees.
“I got a letter from my family doc on Friday stating that starting in two months he is limiting his practice to the first 600 people that sign up and pay an additional $1650 a year on top of regular fees.”
Concierge medicine is risky for the provider if they charge an additional fee on top of regular fees if the regular fees are in any way paid via insurance. Insurance contracts prohibit additional fees for service and even if additional fees are purportedly for uncovered services, if it can be shown that the services provided should be included under the aegis of a covered service, the provider is in deep trouble, especially if we’re talking about a government provider.
So for example, priority scheduling would probably not be an uncovered service. But perhaps a home visit, certain number of phone calls, co-ordination of service MIGHT be uncovered. Providers must give their contracted, insured patients an ABN (advanced beneficiary notice) to their patient to bill for an uncovered service.
OTOH, if your provider doesn’t take your insurance, self pay contracts are still ok, at least for now.
Concierge medicine. We’re going back to the wild west days, where a barter system takes hold.
This doctor could get into all types of trouble with that approach.
He/she/it would be better off charging a flat $200/month and let the patients try to bill their insurance company.
A FP doctor friend, who retired last year, rather than face this Obozo Care BS is being asked to open his practice to 3 days per week, limit his practice to about 300 patients and charge them a flat $250/month with the patients being responsible for all lab/pharmacy and other health care costs. Patients would pay cash for any injectable shots.
He would pick and chose the patients with his retired nurse and wife, the former receptionist. All patients would sign a pre patient form, noting that if they became unruly, hostile or a pain to treat, they would have to find another doctor.