Thursday, May 30, 2013

ObamaTax: Another Nail

As we've long documented, one of the (intended?) effects of the ObamaTax is a looming physician shortage. But perhaps some clarification is needed: the shortage is most likely to hit the insured and/or less wealthy demographic first.

Why is that, you ask?

Well:

"Dr. Michael Ciampi [has] ... stopped accepting all forms of health insurance. In early 2013, Ciampi sent a letter to his patients informing them that he would no longer accept any kind of health coverage, both private and government-sponsored"

And to make sure his patients know exactly how that would impact them, he's also taken the full-transparency route (for which we also applaud him) by posting all his prices on-line.

Regular readers may recall our (exclusive) interview with Dr Rob Lamberts last fall, when he explained how his new practice model - Direct Primary Care (DPC) - works:

"The DPC model is one in which the patient pays the doctor directly for their care, usually in the form of a monthly "subscription," plus or minus a fee for visits."

That's different from how Dr Ciampi has evolved his practice; he "collects payment at the end of the visit, freeing him of the time and costs associated with sending bills."

It also frees him to charge whatever he likes (well, whatever the market will bear, anyway) without having to answer to insurance or government bureaucracies. It also means that he can spend more time with patients. Nothing wrong with that.
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