Obama Care Part II

Interesting. Never seen a Dr. do that before, but not surprising. Out of curiosity, what is the retainer? Is it significant?


I got another letter in the mail over the weekend....

This time is was an announcement from my doctor, a primary care physician/ internist, that his practice was going to a concierge service.

For those unfamiliar with concierge type doctors, all it means is that they charge a yearly fee on top of the standard cost of a doctors visit. Basically a retainer to go to your doctor. In the past most of the doctors did this to cater to wealthy and/or demanding patients who wanted to spend more than 10 mins with their doctor each visit or perhaps to call them to get a prescription instead of going in for something minor.

Its become much more common place in the last few years with the growing shortage of doctors. I also personally believe established doctors are going concierge to cut back their hours without significantly cutting back their incomes as they transition into retirement. It probably makes sense from a succession planning perspective too. And now with Obamacare its never made more sense. With more patients on the immediate horizon (increasing demand) and an aging physician population (reducing supply), doctors are now in good position to charge all of those who can afford it (the middle class) a retainer.

Interesting. Never seen a Dr. do that before, but not surprising. Out of curiosity, what is the retainer? Is it significant?


It wasn't on the letter but I just called them and its $1,650 per year. That seems on the higher end of what ive heard from other people. Plus there isn't really anything special about my doctor, so in my opinion it seems really high.

I think normal in the Richmond area is 1k - 1.5k. I think for the really good doctor practices where you are truly getting additional care, the people who can afford it are paying 5k. I have a client whose wife has chronic illness and they pay 20k for her doctor, but that's for someone who needs special medical attention and things like regular house calls.

Trio of young coders build health-care website in days - CNN.com (http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/11/tech/web/alternate-healthcare-site/)

After all the problems with the website this is kind of funny to me. I heqard it on NPR this morning and can't find the story so I put this CNN link up instead.

Thought this was pretty neat

Americans 34 Times More Interested In Buying Guns Than Obamacare | Zero Hedge (http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-11-12/americans-34-times-more-interested-buying-guns-obamacare)

http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/content/csm-photo-galleries-images/in-pictures-images/2013/11/obamacare-around-the-world/01/17440959-3-eng-US/01_full_900x600.png

Great graph. Obviously we are doing something wrong. How much of that decrease in cost stems from healthier lifestyle choices and better regulation of the food industry I wonder? Clearly there is a healthcare inflation we have in the U.S. if doctor's visits cost 4x.

Harry Reid exempts some of his Senate staff from Obamacare exchanges (http://news.yahoo.com/harry-reid-exempts-some-of-his-senate-staff-from-obamacare-exchanges-192925037.html)


ROFL. The irony and hypocrisy.

You just have to love Republicans , they are funny as shit!

G.O.P.: Healthcare.gov Too Fast Now : The New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2013/12/gop-healthcaregov-too-fast-now.html?utm_source=tny&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=borowitz&mbid=nl_Borowitz)

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/))—Republican critics of Obamacare rose up in anger today, claiming that, after two months of fixes, the healthcare.gov Web site is now “unacceptably fast.”
Leading the howls of protest was the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who accused President Obama of designing a Web site that operates at a “blistering, breakneck speed.”
“With pages loading in milliseconds, this Web site is insuring people before they know what hit them,” Rep. Issa charged. “Clearly, this is what the President and his team had in mind.”
Additionally, Rep. Issa said, at such high speeds “it is questionable whether this Web site is even safe for consumers to use, particularly the elderly.”
The California Republican said he would call for hearings this week to investigate the dangerous new velocity of healthcare.gov, telling reporters, “If anyone can slow this thing down, it’s me.”

:doh:

You just have to love Republicans , they are funny as shit!

G.O.P.: Healthcare.gov Too Fast Now : The New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2013/12/gop-healthcaregov-too-fast-now.html?utm_source=tny&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=borowitz&mbid=nl_Borowitz)

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/))—Republican critics of Obamacare rose up in anger today, claiming that, after two months of fixes, the healthcare.gov Web site is now “unacceptably fast.”
Leading the howls of protest was the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who accused President Obama of designing a Web site that operates at a “blistering, breakneck speed.”
“With pages loading in milliseconds, this Web site is insuring people before they know what hit them,” Rep. Issa charged. “Clearly, this is what the President and his team had in mind.”
Additionally, Rep. Issa said, at such high speeds “it is questionable whether this Web site is even safe for consumers to use, particularly the elderly.”
The California Republican said he would call for hearings this week to investigate the dangerous new velocity of healthcare.gov, telling reporters, “If anyone can slow this thing down, it’s me.”

:doh:

It's called satire my friend

Thanks for the reminder why I stopped posting here so much. :doh:

LOL. Still these OT forums are a great read for info and humor.