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That could very well be the case, but BCBS PPO 005 is going to be the exact same no matter where you bought it from. There isn't a way to say "well we take PPO 005, but not that PPO 005 plan".
That's not the problem.
The problem is that all the NEW plans which are Obamacare are taking away choices from the patient, and restricting availability of treatment.
Which, btw, is how every single payer or government run medical system does - by creating a dire shortage of providers, in an effort to get people to die early and reduce demand.
But the numbers are growing and the cost to implement are coming down.
Concierge medicine is not only for the rich anymore.
You pay the doctor for care and have a catastrophic plan for hospital costs.
Ages 6-20: $90 a month.
Ages 21-39: $130 a month.
Ages 40-59: $195 a month.
60 and over: $295 a month.
Concierge care is not a replacement for insurance. According to Michael Tetreault of Concierge Medicine Today, many patients combine a high deductible catastrophic health care plan with concierge care. This keeps them covered in case of a serious illness or accident, and they can go to their concierge doctor for the common cold, checkups and preventative care.
That's an expensive one.
There are others who charge as little as $20/mo per person. Most commonly, it's about $50 - 75/person. In states where it's legal, the doctors dispense prescriptions from their office, where they buy direct, and the patients save up to 90% on prescriptions. It is free market medicine, with no insurance, no medicare, no third party interfering with you and your doctor.
Numbers are still very meager. There will always be local factors that restrict concierge from becoming more than niche. There is simply not enough demand.
Actually, you're wholly wrong. The cash practice family medicine business is going to explode and nothing you can do, short of forcing doctors to not be doctors is going to end this.
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More than concierge though, some docs are going cash only. And this is accelerating faster than concierge. But even then this business model can only support a few docs per area. Unless they do a hybrid practice where they take insurance also.
There is little to no functional difference between them.
The cash practices have drastically lower prices, whether it's by subscription model, or by fee for service, and due to the drastically reduced overhead caused by insurance, it's MORE profitable than taking insurance.
The first people who got screwed were the individual plan buyers - who were forced into buying Obamacare.
Not all individual buyers were screwed. We made out fine and dandy with Obamacare, mainly because our deductibles went way down. I think that many individual buyers with disease did OK.
The first people who got screwed were the individual plan buyers - who were forced into buying Obamacare. You seem to forget that everyone else got delays and exemptions.
So, yes, there IS an Obamacare and NOT Obamacare plan. The NOT Obamacare plans are purchased by anyone other than individuals, because the mandates have been delayed.
The conversation was about individual plans. The group plans were already mostly in compliance. That is, no preexisting condition denials, pregnancy coverage, et al. The deductibles were almost never in the $10K range and they currently do not have policy limits that I'm aware of.
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Originally Posted by pnwmdk
Why do liberals such as yourself NEVER, EVER tell the truth about these things?
What makes you think I'm a liberal? I just find republican and conservative strategy and positions insane and I'm not alone. The only people left in the GOP are the crazies, every one else has left or has been pushed out.
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Originally Posted by pnwmdk
That's not the problem.
The problem is that all the NEW plans which are Obamacare are taking away choices from the patient, and restricting availability of treatment.
That very different than the OP's claim. OP is claiming that the same plan, with the same deductibles, copays & codes, selling for the same price, are in fact different plans.
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Originally Posted by pnwmdk
Which, btw, is how every single payer or government run medical system does - by creating a dire shortage of providers, in an effort to get people to die early and reduce demand.
Haha, no that's not how every single payer system is run. They have waiting lists and people do die on waiting lists, but it is not done intentionally nor with the goal of having people die earlier. Many of those single payer systems have more Dr's than we do anyway.
Blue Cross' "Obamacare" plans are the same as those on on the Blue Cross website. But if you apply through the healthcare.gov website you can get the tax subsidies applied to your monthly premiums as opposed to waiting until you file your tax return. There is no difference in payment schedules to doctors.
Stop! All those facts will confuse these poor people. I mean honestly. All these people want to do is to live in a delusional alternate reality. Is that really so much to ask?
But no. You just have to come along with your reasoned tone and your "information." You just had to ruin everything for everyone didn't you?
Actually, you're wholly wrong. The cash practice family medicine business is going to explode and nothing you can do, short of forcing doctors to not be doctors is going to end this.
There is little to no functional difference between them.
The cash practices have drastically lower prices, whether it's by subscription model, or by fee for service, and due to the drastically reduced overhead caused by insurance, it's MORE profitable than taking insurance.
I said concierge won't grow much as there are too many limiting factors. They typically don't apply to specialists or surgeons, and of course don't cover hospitalizations or critical care. It takes a rather large population group to sustain a concierge practice. For instance in our town of 50K it has been found time and again to be impossible. There is just not enough demand. Thus the hybrid practice, a blend of concierge and conventional which would be doable. But no one is doing it here or the next few towns.
Now cash practice I see growing more, because even small towns can support them. But again mainly simple primary care. And not too many in any one small town could go cash, or they would drive themselves into the ground with price. Assuming they don't collude. Again the hybrid makes more sense. But no one in my or the next few towns does it.
As this is mainly concerning primary care, the powers that be have been generally favorable to and padding of primary care docs wallets lately. And if a doc can make a good enough buck with a conventional practice, there will of course be less reason to go cash.
I think that opening a concierge style of practice is less risky then a cash based practice because the doctor knows that they will get paid via membership fees every single month instead of just getting paid when patients come in for care. In other words, it's more of a steady and predictable source of income then a cash based practice. For some doctors it is worth the switch because they can have less patients then they would in a traditional practice and spend more time with them with much less overhead.
The problem is that all the NEW plans which are Obamacare are taking away choices from the patient, and restricting availability of treatment.
Which, btw, is how every single payer or government run medical system does - by creating a dire shortage of providers, in an effort to get people to die early and reduce demand.
That's absolutely ridiculous.
Do you have a credible link, or is this a 'fact' straight out of your fevered imagination?
Last edited by weltschmerz; 08-05-2014 at 05:20 PM..
That's absolutely ridiciulous.
Do you have a credible link, or is this a 'fact' straight out of your fevered imagination?
Would have a hard time explaining Renal Dialysis and Medicare.
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