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Country-Club Health Care |
| Published: August 10, 2007, 6:21 pm |
| Tags: money finance, 2008 elections, legislation, health care, medicine, social commentary, usa |
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While politicians slobber about democratic principles of universal health care and market competition, an increasing number of Americans are turning back the clock to a me-first, screw-the-poor solution that would not have offended Louis XIV. To bypass HMOs and managed care insurers, doctors are setting up their own little country clubs for patients who pay dues of at least $1500 a year, much more in many cases, while turning away others they used to treat on a fee-for-service basis. Revealingly called concierge medicine, this kind of exclusion is understandably attractive to physicians who can see a dozen or fewer patients a day rather than the 25 to 35 in a conventional practice. For patients who can afford the tab, it means less waiting and more attention. But with a nationwide shortage of primary-care doctors, this trend will only exacerbate the health-care crisis in America. As the candidates push their umpteen-point plans, the market place is working out its own answers [ Full article ] |
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