Would you pay extra for a better health care experience?
My parents had a concierge doctor, they really liked it and thought it was well worth it.
I have it. It’s worth it.
My old doctor changed a couple of years ago. I really liked the guy, but I still have to have insurance and I couldn’t justify $100 per month to a doctor I see twice a year.
Just don’t like that it’s hospital based. Everything hospital based is inefficient and more expensive
Otherwise it’s a great idea. We ought to get rid of the Affordable Care Act so doctors can charge or get reimbursed a reasonable rate and so we can slash the staff and administrative costs of insurance
Also we should hold non-profits to the antitrust acts since there needs to be competition among care providers and so we can eliminate the exception of general standard business practices
Is this concierge health care only for primary care or does it include specialists
Normally just primary.
With my parents it was the primary care doctor but he had admitting privileges at several hospitals and would expedite referrals to other doctors. The doctor would bill Medicare for services, my parents were paying for better service that included home visits, same day appointments and I think the fee included deductibles and co-pays.
It is not always hospital based. Here, there are a few concierge doctors and none are with a hospital. Every year we look into it and decide not to sign up. We don’t use a lot of medical services, but it would be handy to get an on call primary care doctor. Cost here is $1,200-1,500/year per person and it’s not covered by Medicare or most insurance plans.
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Mine is a cheaper service. It’s 500 a year. I can get an appointment the same day if needed. Otherwise within 48 hours. They also have video and email.
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My old doctors rates are based on age. If you are over 65 it’s $100 per month.
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The problem here is that the hospital systems have scarfed up a lot of general medical practices, so there are fewer general practitioners out there.
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Does this mean that if you pay $100 a month you won’t have to pay anything else for primary care
IT’s unlimited office visits. They offer discounts for labs and x-rays MRI, etc. I’m not sure about prescription meds.
I can’t speak for KC, but I doubt very much that is the case. The article in the OP says that the fee for concierge services is on top of co-pays, deductibles and other charges the patient is responsible for. And, if one only had to pay $100 per month and nothing more for primary care, what would stop a person from booking many appointments every month for whatever hangnail or stubbed toe he might have?
I think the fee is for the privilege of getting appointments sooner and for more ready access.
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Unlimited office visits for $100 a month? If so, so much for my guess. 
Nope. It’s unlimited visits. They don’t accept insurance so there are no copays or deductibles. The reason the price per month goes up with age is because an older person is likely to have more that one or two visits per year.
Since they don’t take insurance or Medicare,…I still have insurance for meds and tests and other things and I only go to the doctor a couple of times a year (unless I’ve been hit by a car) that I couldn’t justify $1200 per year to one doctor. Also, he is not affiliated with a hospital but he does have admitting rights to a couple of hospitals…
In my case no. You do get more personalized care and priority.
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A couple years ago my doctor was excited about a seeming emergence of all cash/no insurance practices.
I’ll have to ask him at my upcoming physical how the phenomenon is progressing.
I don’t follow the industry, so I have no data. But my amateur sense is that this is not catching on by storm.
And I think the reason is us consumers at large. Most people seem to want insurance, or have it in some way through work, etc. People don’t seem to want to pay higher costs (real or perceived) when they have the comfort of greater cost coverage (real or perceived).
This is largely why Britons and Canadians tolerate the shortcomings of their “universal” single payer systems. They consider it worth the tradeoffs, whether that is borne out in reality or not.
That’s what I feel. I already have insurance. My doctor was a great guy but. I have to find another doctor sooner or later. When he went concierge he referred me to another doctor, who is also good, but they both are getting closer to retirement. An interesting thing about these two…My original doctor was Jewish - the doctor he referred me to is Iranian.