A doctor on call 24-hours a day. Same day appointments. Top quality care. ‘Tis a dream, but Dr. James K. Frost’s new practice actually provides it. You just have to cough up an annual retainer ranging from $2,000 to $10,000. But hey, Americans will pay for the best. So what’s the problem? Well, Dr. Frost says that before, overhead costs and malpractice insurance were forcing him to see more and more patients just to break even. Now he’s “the kind of physician I thought I was going to be when I went to medical school. The kind who knew his patients.” However, U.S. Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) thinks if the trend catches on, “the health care system will become even more inequitable than it is today." The crisis deepens. Read [The Business Report]
Rep Pete Stark needs a lesson in basic addition.
Question1: How much did your employer pay in premiums for your healthcare last year?
Question2: How much did you pay in premiums as your "employee contribution?"
Question3: How much did you pay in deductibles?
Question4: How much did you pay in copays?
Question5: How much did you pay in coinsurance?
Question6: How much did you pay for non-covered items/services?
7: Add lines 1-6.
8: If 7 >= $2000, what exactly was the benefit you gained from having health insurance coverage vs paying a $2000 annual fee to this guy?
Posted by: bob | November 17, 2005 at 12:49 AM
Oh how I wish I was Pete Stark's urologist! Let him try to have a dinner out and when presented with a check for $80.00 say my usual and customary payment for this is $24.00. That is what physicians have to accept everyday. The real solution will be if ALL physicians disenroll from all health plans and deal directly with patients. Physicians who have done this tell me they not only get paid more but they were also able to eliminate personnel that they had to employ to deal with the insurance companies.
Posted by: Arthur Mensch, M.D> | November 18, 2005 at 08:58 AM
A higher energy price is a sacrifice we have to make for cleaner fuels
Posted by: bravehost | September 24, 2007 at 02:22 PM
Sex offenders should be, should not be castrated
Posted by: Sandra | October 04, 2007 at 11:23 AM
Global Warming Isn't A Threat
Posted by: john | October 04, 2007 at 07:06 PM