Locating self-pay, cash-only physicians (Katy, Magnolia: car insurance, lawyer, home)

[Texas Ag 93]

Be advised that when you call a doctor's office and mention that you would be "self pay", that may be be interpreted as being "no pay", because that's often what ends up happening. Therefore, don't be surprised if the scheduler or front office person who serves as the gatekeeper for making appointments has a lot of questions for you.

With some specialties, it can be easy to pay on a cash basis. The best example is probably Dermatology, since they have a large number of patients who are getting elective and/or cosmetic procedures and treatments done. I know some Derms that won't even accept insurance. I could also seeing it working well for family practice. The issue, however, is not the cost of office visits, which are generally under $200 even for sub specialists. The issue of cost comes into play with what services you need from those doctors, including lab work, imaging etc.

[Farink]

I completely understand where you're coming from. After paying $900/mo for our family with $13k deductible, i've contemplated dropping health insurance but the penalties we'd have to pay to the government won't work for us. And I had a serious health scare earlier this year and was glad we had insurance. Although we had to fork over $6k to meet my individual deductible, that same hospital stay would have cost me nearly $32k if I didn't have insurance. But once you do the math and consider the risk and decide this is the way for you, try the following: Simple Traditions Family Health PLLC; Dr. Tom Sloan in The Woodlands (highly recommended by others--we never saw him). Options are out there and good doctors who had enough with the red-tap and only deal in cash do exist. You just have to dig and find them. And no, not all are concierge medicine with annual fees. Good luck! Obamacare, the gift that keeps on giving (i'm told our premiums will increase by 15% next year--health insurance is now as expensive as some mortgages).

[bohunak]

Farink, we use Simple Traditions Family in Magnolia, Dr. Dibble and Dr. Flowers. Excellent family doctors :-) They don't accept insurance. Even we have insurance, we use them as our family doctors, and paying cash. Mostly, because they are not main stream doctors and taking an excellent care of their patients, some home visits included. Love it.

Our insurance is even more expensive, it comes to the point, when it's ridiculous.

[shortel]

For non major things their is a clinic on heights blvd that most people pay with cash. depending on your income determines how much you pay of the bill. If you make enough you will pay 100% though.

[lbc0815]

I highly recommend Dr. Paul Dibble in Magnolia. His practice is called Simple Traditions Family Health. I live in Katy and am always happy to drive an hour to his office every time my family or I need to see a doctor, instead of driving to one that only lives 2 minutes away but don't give a s*** about their patients. Dr. Dribble will spend a good 30 minutes with you, listening to your concerns and asking questions. He is an ethical old school doctor who also hates how the system corrupts patients. He is not affiliated with any insurance at all.

I have looked around cash-only non-insurance affiliated doctors when I was new here and only Dr. Dibble doesn't charge ridiculous fees. You can check out his website, he has a complete price list of services there. But to give you a quick idea, it's $80 for a visit. The labs are cheap, you won't have to worry about being billed $500 later for an x-ray of your pinky.

What I like most about him is he is all for parental/patient rights and choice, unlike most doctors who are arrogant and insist what they want, then guilt-trip you if you don't listen. I am tired of having to pay for doctors who will keep me in the waiting room for at least 15 minutes only to see me for 2 minutes.

Check out Dr. Dibbles reviews on google and Facebook.

Affordable health care, Simple Traditions Family Health
https://www.facebook.com/SimpleTradi...ealth/?fref=ts

[lbc0815]

Originally Posted by bohunak

Farink, we use Simple Traditions Family in Magnolia, Dr. Dibble and Dr. Flowers. Excellent family doctors :-)

Dr. Flower no longer works with Dr. Dibble. She has moved to Tomagwa Health Care Ministries.

[bohunak]

Originally Posted by lbc0815

Dr. Flower no longer works with Dr. Dibble. She has moved to Tomagwa Health Care Ministries.

Ah, really? Thanks for the update:-) It's nice to see that we share Dr. Dibble, he's a great doctor.

[mcfroggin]

Word of mouth is probably the best way to find all good doctors.

Milepost with Dr Stringfellow is great for general medicine and pediatrics.

Your Family Psychiatrist with Dr Heathman is great for general and child psychiatry.

Both are NW area.

[chris_ut]

Most every doctor will take cash, just identify yourself as self pay up front and there is usually a discounted price. I dropped insurance this year it's so useless after Obamacare killed the plan we had. The penalty can be $2500 depending on your income so factor that in. You can get insurance with a 30 day waiting period so the only real risk of not carrying is an ER visit, those can set you back 40k but if you save 10k+ a year then just say what are the odds I end up in the ER in the next 4 years. I've gone there once in 40 years so I'm not too worried about it.

[mcfroggin]

Originally Posted by chris_ut

Most every doctor will take cash, just identify yourself as self pay up front and there is usually a discounted price.

While true, the difference in quality of care between a cash-only practice and an insurance practice is staggering. Much less to no wait times, easier availability, often better hours, more time with the Doctor, and often a better bedside manner.