A new kind of doctor's office charges a monthly fee and doesn't take insurance

[I Push Buttons]

You mean the stuff 99% of people don’t need? That’s why there’s interest in stuff like this. Most of us don’t need plans that cover sex change operations.

That's some pretty dumb logic... You don't need any treatment until you need it...

That is literally the definition of insurance, protection against some possible eventuality.

[petej0]

In america you have to pay Insurance monthly no matter what you do?

According to the ACA you must purchase an insurance plan. So you you have to pay insurance.

By pay monthly you mean a full visit pay or insurance?

My monthly insurance payment.

[Dragonhawk]

I can see the good, but there is 2 big issues- you still need to pay for insurance, and only general work can be done with this system ( colds, sores, exc) which how often does the average person go? Most cases it's less to pay the standard system 2-3 times a year ( 200 out of pocket for me for each, 3*200 is less than 12*150), and anything more serious has to be done by an actual hospital ( unless for some odd reason doctors will now do open heart surgery's at some strangers home....yeah....), which now your paying 150 a month for a standard doctor, your insurance, and the standard system of serious care. Unless you go to a doctor for every sneeze, it's cheaper not to do home visits....

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It's that, and hospitals are purposely ripping you off. Bag of salt water ( saline)- cost 20 cents ( at most), you would think the cost is at most 2-4 $, about 2 water bottles. What they actually charge you? 150$ that's over 1000% profit? What other business can do that?

As far as still needing to get insurance. With this plan you could just get catastrophic health care insurance, which is considerably cheaper than normal insurance. Very few people actually use catastrophic insurance (covers things like cancer, auto accidents, major injuries,...) so you can get a plan for much lower than what you would normally have to pay for insurance. Most of the insurance costs come from normal doctor visits and more routine procedures. Overall it will generally save a person money, though I am unsure, with Obamacare still in place if you could just get a catastrophic plan or if you are mandated to get one of the plans designated by the govt. You know the ones where a 60 year old woman still needs manditory maternity care as part of her health care.

[Auxora]

A local doctor is doing something better and one step further. He's doing flat $50 doctor visits, no insurance. It's not a fancy office but not bad, just simple. And he said he's able to cut costs by not having to hire a bunch of people to handle all of the insurance paperwork. He's said he's doing it out of goodness since he's an older doctor who has money and doesn't need to get richer. So it's probably not something you'd get many 30-40 year-old doctors to bite on, giving up 6 figure incomes and having large student loans to pay. But an interesting approach. There's probably opportunity out there for econo-style no-frills budget family physician services.

Not that it replaces the need for insurance, since more serious things happen once in a while to everyone. But needing a $250 office (at least between co-pay and insurance payments) visit just to get a prescription written for the flu or to get blood pressure taken seems obscene.

[dextersmith]

You mean the stuff 99% of people don’t need? That’s why there’s interest in stuff like this. Most of us don’t need plans that cover sex change operations.

Nobody plans on being in critical condition after a well planned accident and no insurance is going to take the bill after the fact. I'm just curious if they have forethought.

[petej0]

Nobody plans on being in critical condition after a well planned accident and no insurance is going to take the bill after the fact. I'm just curious if they have forethought.

Which is why catastrophic insurance coverage is the only coverage you should need. You shouldnt need insurance to see your Dr about minor illnesses.

[Player Twelve]

In that excessive charge, they pay the pharmacist and pharmacy techs, the nurses, the physicians, the maintenance staff, the environmental staff, any tools and equipment used (syringes, lines, gloves, etc), and for the product itself.

Funny how we can maintain a system that's pretty much free from costs for the patient in Sweden.

[I Push Buttons]

Funny how we can maintain a system that's pretty much free from costs for the patient in Sweden.

Paying for something via taxes doesn't make it free.

[Player Twelve]

Paying for something via taxes doesn't make it free.

Pretty much free from costs for the patient.

Can you read?

[I Push Buttons]

Pretty much free from costs for the patient.

Can you read?

When you take your money and you give it to the government in exchange for a service.

That service is not free. You paid for it.

Can you read?

[Player Twelve]

When you take your money and you give it to the government in exchange for a service.

That service is not free. You paid for it.

Can you read?

It seems that you indeed cannot read.

[SL1200]

What's so stupid about it? We need to try some different things and find something that will actually bring costs down.

[Hammerfest]

The market finds a way around things.

[unfilteredJW]

I think it's probably better we start with teaching people why they need insurance, as this thread shows mostly ignorance on the topic.

[I Push Buttons]

It seems that you indeed cannot read.

If my insurance has no deductible and no copay, am I "free from costs" when I receive medical care?

Of course I am not because I have to fucking pay for the insurance.

[Derpules]

In that excessive charge, they pay the pharmacist and pharmacy techs, the nurses, the physicians, the maintenance staff, the environmental staff, any tools and equipment used (syringes, lines, gloves, etc), and for the product itself.

Sure, but wouldn't that argument be true for ANY other business? Of course selling the product helps pay for materials and the varied labor needed to execute the function, but it still doesn't speak to how (exaggeratedly) inflated the charges are. Convenience stores and movie theaters jack up prices all the time. Roller-coaster Tycoon players should know all about adjusting umbrella prices when it starts to rain...

[Jaylock]

I can see the good, but there is 2 big issues- you still need to pay for insurance, and only general work can be done with this system ( colds, sores, exc) which how often does the average person go? Most cases it's less to pay the standard system 2-3 times a year ( 200 out of pocket for me for each, 3*200 is less than 12*150), and anything more serious has to be done by an actual hospital ( unless for some odd reason doctors will now do open heart surgery's at some strangers home....yeah....), which now your paying 150 a month for a standard doctor, your insurance, and the standard system of serious care. Unless you go to a doctor for every sneeze, it's cheaper not to do home visits....

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It's that, and hospitals are purposely ripping you off. Bag of salt water ( saline)- cost 20 cents ( at most), you would think the cost is at most 2-4 $, about 2 water bottles. What they actually charge you? 150$ that's over 1000% profit? What other business can do that?

Its a genius idea and it is based on a free market model.

For a family of 6 to be able to have access to a primary care physician, and get all the regular stuff that people go to the doctor for, for $150 bucks a month, that is a great deal.

You would have to have some sort of agreement with the doctor or maybe if more doctors and clinics start operating this way, partnerships can be made with specialists, and the insurance companies could be skipped all together.

[Deleted]

When you take your money and you give it to the government in exchange for a service.

That service is not free. You paid for it.

Can you read?

On an average salary I pay a grand total of 3600 dollars, roughly, in taxes each year. This provides me with free healthcare apart from visitation fees 16 dollars and any medicine that costs less than 120 dollars/year. If my medical expenses surpas 120 dollars a year, the rest of the year is free of charge for both medicine and visits.

And thats just healthcare, it also allows me free schooling at any level, with the option to take a loan basically free of interest to live of, allowing me to focus 100% on studies. The loan has no deadline, and after 30 years, if you have any debt left, they just write it off.

I make 1300 dollars a month after taxes, 300 of that is rent, internet (250mb), electricity and water. I pay roughly 250 dollars a month for food, leaving me with 750 dollars each month that I can spend however I want. Working a single job at 38 hours a week.

Please do tell me how bad my taxes are for my general well being, btw Im considered a rather low income worker. Most people make 2000-3500 dollars a month, but their costs barely increase. Taxes here are between 25-33% of your income, but you get a tax return each year of about 1100-2000 dollars.

So I pay 3600 taxes, each june I get 1200 back, so only 2400 actually goes to the state.

Your damn insurance system scams the shit out of you for something that is a basic need.

[cubby]

This is so stupid.


http://www.businessinsider.com/direc...e-model-2017-3

Precisely how is this stupid?

Sounds like a decent model for people to use - cost effective, no insurance bullshit, and covers just about all the basics. I didn't see how major issues are handled - like hospital visits and such (anything big). Someone know about that part?

[Jaylock]

Funny how we can maintain a system that's pretty much free from costs for the patient in Sweden.

because the vast majority of your country's budget spending is on health care and other entitlement programs, you don't need to spend anything on having a strong military because other countries will protect you if anything should happen to your country (*cough*cough*USA*cough*cough*), and your taxes are much higher.

People get to keep less of their hard earned money in your country... which is unfortunate.

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Christ just pay for it with taxes already.

How about people pay for it with the money they earn instead of sending it to a horribly run bureaucracy that doesn't know how to spend your money as effectively as you can?