Georgia just passed a bill legalizing direct primary care agreements between doctors and patients, bypassing the insurance industry. If this spreads to even more states, could it be the death knell of Obamacare? Given the reluctance of Congressional Republicans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, could this be, as Bill Whittle says, “the best news since Donald Trump was elected President”?
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Death Knell of Obamacare: Georgia Passes Direct Primary Care Agreements
Georgia just passed a bill legalizing direct primary care agreements between doctors and patients, bypassing the insurance industry. If this spreads to even more states, could it be the death knell of Obamacare? Given the reluctance of Congressional Republicans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, could this be, as Bill Whittle says, “the best news since Donald Trump was elected President”?
12 replies on “Death Knell of Obamacare: Georgia Passes Direct Primary Care Agreements”
Best idea I’ve heard in a very long time.
Let’s add one stipulation to the health care agreement. You pay the monthly fee only so long as you are healthy. Think about the incentive that would give healthcare providers to keep you healthy and it would reduce monthly expenses during a time when you can least afford to pay them
There’s nothing in Obamacare prohibiting DPC/Concierge practices. One big thing in Obamacare is that providers cannot change a different price for cash-paying (“self-pay”) patients and insurance-billed services. I don’t have insurance (thanks to Obamacare), so this means my annual doctor’s visit cost went from $85 to $125. Also, I tried to get my bloodwork done at a local lab location instead of at my doctor’s and it was going to be $975. At my doctor’s office, different codes, it was $270. (This is just basics, nothing special.)
However, there are doctors who do not accept any insurance at all. (Yes, Scott, this is Texas.) Not even DPC if you don’t want to sign up for that. Walk-ins welcome, Skype access to the doctor after hours, other great ideas. I will be going to one of those doctors soon. (And I need to find a phlebotomist and/or lab that don’t accept insurance.) I don’t understand why more aren’t doing this, but I suppose it’s hard to restart a long-established practice that has always relied on insurance billing.
I’m still waiting for actual insurance to protect me from car accidents, coronaries, and cancer, and let me pay cash for the rest.
I read an article online about a surgery practice in Oklahoma that does not accept insurance. Their prices are so low that people who have insurance but can’t afford the deductibles or other out-of-pocket/uncovered costs travel from other states to get their surgery. The article claimed that one of the surgeons stated that for a hysterectomy, under the previous system, he would be paid $500 for the surgery.
In their new practice, he gets I think about $3500 (sorry, can’t remember exactly). The patient paid something like $8k total, which included pre- and post-op visits and the hospital stay. Her deductibe/out of pocket cost would have been something like $30k if she’d used her “insurance.”
So, again, it’s mind-boggling to me why doctors are bothering with the complications of a DPC practice (perhaps it seems more secure to them?) when there is such a huge market available. Perhaps it is the lack of availability of real insurance to cover catastrophic issues, but as the above story shows, there’s a market even among those who already have insurance.
I’m in New York state and I thought we had some “concierge physicians.” I don’t know any, but it’s interesting that Georgia felt it had to move legislatively to make it happen there.
I know a doctor in California who opened a concierge practice after most of his children grew up. No employees at all as his wife runs the office. He loves it. He is on a first name basis with all of his patients and no longer needs to rush from one patient to the next.
I don’t know about a place in Texas but this place will give you up front pricing before a procedure. https://surgerycenterok.com
Imagine having a system where 50 different incubators could all try something different and the others could learn from the good and bad. Just imagine it, it’s easy if you try.
So the flaw I see is that there is still a federal law that states what mandatory minimum health insurance must cover. So for this to work, those minima must be repealed. Else the catastrophic plan that Bill mentioned cannot exist.
The answer of course is to eliminate the federal minima.
I thought *concierge physicians.* were legal in this nation already??
I was going to only compliment Steven, but I have to say all 3 of you have been on fire; in particular these last couple several weeks!
They say repetition is the mother of education, or something like that.
Please keep hammering on this theme in particular!
Godspeed,
Jon Rosen
Well, as good as this is, it will never be implemented in CA. I guess I’ll have to move to Georgia…
I’m just waiting for The Radical Left to freak out over these plans and fight tooth & nail against a woman’s right to choose in Georgia
In my exceedingly blue state, doctors who offer this arrangement are called *concierge physicians.* There aren’t many of them. I don’t know why. Perhaps there would be more if they were offered statutory protections that our legislature is unwilling to grant.