Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Universal Health Care....Not so fast



Doctor's old-fashioned medical care starts with a $1,600 price tag
Now here is a novel idea. I wonder why somebody didn't think of it before? Can everybody afford $1600 a year for a doctor? That breaks down to a little more then $100 a month or what you are probably paying for cable. Sure the liberals will scream about this only benefits the rich but think about this for a minute. If by taking patients away from the regular practices they are easing the burden on the clinics by reducing the number of patients seen there wouldn't that be a good thing?
Imagine having a doctor who’s available by cell phone 24 hours a day, who handles your care personally if you’re hospitalized, who doesn’t rush through your appointment so he can see his next patient.
Gainesville has that doctor. But if you want to be one of his patients, it will cost you extra.
Dr. Jeffrey Terry, an internal medicine physician at Northeast Georgia Diagnostic Clinic, is the first doctor in the area to offer "concierge" medicine.
And least you think he just pulled that $1600 figure out of the air, think again. He met with his current patients and discussed it.
"Their main concern has been the cost," he said. "When I made the decision, I knew it would be difficult for a number of patients to be able to afford the service. We settled on an amount we thought would be acceptable to (most of) our patients."
There also have been a lot of questions about Medicare and private insurance. Terry said patients’ insurance plans will continue to be billed for any of services normally covered.
He said older patients and those with numerous health problems seem most enthusiastic about DirectCare.

So while the Dems want to wrap us in the blanket of their various Universal Health care plans it looks like the private sector is coming up with unique and innovative ways of dealing with the issue, just like they always do.

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