My wife's doctor went this route and now we pay that annual fee so she can see him.
If we get HillaryCare, or ObamaCare, expect a lot more of this. Unless the legislation bans it.
(It won't. Our rich politicos will always want to insulate themselves from the consequences of their benevolence - they'll make sure they get to keep their own private doctors for a price. The rest of us, well we can sit in the waiting room for two hours in order to have a quick five minutes with the harried government doctor.)
Rest assured that it will be banned. As you may recall, one of the provisions of Hillary! for President!!!'s 1994 Health Care scheme was to make it a crime for doctors to perform medical service for a fee outside of the government plan.
The rich and powerful will protect their access in other ways, like they do in Canada and the UK. If you are on a special list, you get access to the best doctors with no wait. Everybody else must get in line.
Way to go!!!