What Happens When Doctors Only Take Cash

[MDM4AU 336]

What Happens When Doctors Only Take Cash

http://time.com/4649914/why-the-doctor-takes-only-cash/

 

Quote

 

When Art Villa found out, after one too many boating accidents, that he needed a total knee replacement, he began asking around to see how much it would cost. The hospital near his home in Helena, Mont., would charge $40,000 for the procedure, he says. But that didn't include the anesthesiologist's fee, physical therapy or a stay at a rehabilitation center afterward. A 2015 Blue Cross Blue Shield study found that one hospital in Dallas billed $16,772 for a knee replacement while another in the same area charged $61,585.

It was in the midst of this confounding research that Villa, who's 68, heard about the Surgery Center of Oklahoma, whose business model is different from that of most hospitals. There, the all-inclusive price for every operation is listed on the website. A rotator-cuff repair for the shoulder costs $8,260. A surgical procedure for carpal tunnel syndrome is $2,750. Setting and casting a basic broken leg: $1,925.

The catch is that the whole facility is cash-based. It doesn't take insurance of any kind. Not Aetna. Not Cigna. Not Medicare or Medicaid. Patients or their employers pay whatever price is listed online, period. There are no negotiated rates, no third-party reimbursements and almost no paperwork. "We say, 'Here's the price. Here's what you're getting. Here's your bill,'" says Keith Smith, who co-founded the Surgery Center in 1997 with fellow anesthesiologist Steven Lantier. "It's as simple as that."

 

 

This is interesting. I know of doctors in Alabama that have gone to strictly "concierge" medicine to avoid dealing with insurance companies and ACA mandates. This obviously won't be that great for someone making $8/her or living off social security that needs and new hip or heart bypass but, it is a step in the right direction in actual HEALTHCARE reform and not just health insurance reform.

 

[bigbird 60,580]

My wife worked at a doctors office while I was at my first school. All the doctors in the area started to do this. It worked really well.

[icanthearyou 4,464]

To some degree, I believe this reveals an informal mandate from the insurers and largest providers.  If you do not have health insurance, you will not be able to afford healthcare.  It is a means to ensure a consistent revenue stream.  Why would hospitals not give the same discounts to cash customers that they extend to the insurance providers?

[icanthearyou 4,464]

3 minutes ago, bigbird said:

My wife worked at a doctors office while I was at my first school. All the doctors in the area started to do this. It worked really well.

Sure but, most of the cost increases in healthcare costs have not originated at that level.