Doctor as renegade -- accepts cash, checks, eggs or pie, not insurance

Minnesota Public Radio ^ | June 20, 2011 | Jennifer Vogel

[E. Pluribus Unum]

You can bet that there is something buried in Obamacare that would define this good woman as a felon.

Obamacare can tolerate ZERO competition, meaning any competition must be eliminated by any means necessary.

[RC51]

Insurance IS the problem w/ healthcare. BAN insurance completely, including govt insurance like medicare/medicaid. Doctors would for the first time in decades have to compete based on what they charge for services. - like an actual private market.

[Krankor]

[Still Thinking]

Since many federal health care reforms — such as those requiring electronic medical records — are tied to Medicare, they tend not to apply to her.

And even those that the feds believe DO apply probably really don't, in light of a correct application of the Commerce Clause. And even the ones that pass THAT bar probably just indicate an oversight on the part of the founders to exclude it, so she's still in the clear.

[Still Thinking]

She prefers this to working within the insurance system.

"System" might be a little strong.

[Still Thinking]

You can bet that there is something buried in Obamacare that would define this good woman as a felon.

Probably. I know for a fact that the National Socialist Democrats have tried to outlaw this practice repeatedly. If it's not covered in O'Care it's just an inadvertent omission. Can't have people making their own choices, taking care of their own needs, AND not having the government steal their health data, now, can we?

[Still Thinking]

Insurance IS the problem w/ healthcare. BAN insurance completely, including govt insurance like medicare/medicaid. Doctors would for the first time in decades have to compete based on what they charge for services. - like an actual private market.

Damn straight. It perverts all the incentives, and not just the ones having to do with costs and pricing.

[foundedonpurpose]

May GOD bless her and her family. We need more like her!

[FourPeas]

they're drawn by a desire for privacy and because she listens and thinks independently

THIS is definitely not something that's compliant with Obamacare. Or insurance companies.

[Yaelle]

Even in the city you can find some practices that deal in money, no insurance, even if they don’t accept potholders or fresh eggs. When I was single and went back to get another degree, student health was too far away and not so great. So for little things I found a little doc practice in a corner of LA in suburbia where you could see a physician’s assistant even as a walk in, and pretty fast, and get a quick dx or prescription. Not for something deadly serious, but for the usual little reasons you need a doc. It was like $35 for a visit. No paperwork needed.

[exDemMom]

Insurance IS the problem w/ healthcare. BAN insurance completely, including govt insurance like medicare/medicaid. Doctors would for the first time in decades have to compete based on what they charge for services. - like an actual private market.

I agree, to a point.

If health insurance were treated like other types of insurance, there wouldn't be a problem. People expect insurance to cover everything, treating it as a high-price pre-payment plan. What if, instead, insurance only covered the high-cost unforeseen events, such as broken bones or cancer?

When I hear the price some people pay for insurance, I really have to wonder. Some monthly premiums cost more than my typical medical expenses for a whole year...

[Graybeard58]

THIS is definitely not something that's compliant with Obamacare. Or insurance companies.

Or with medicare/medicaid laws. If the doctor is treating a 91 year old woman, the woman is likely on one or the other or possibly both and the doctor is breaking a law by charging her directly. Not saying I like it but medicare/medicaid will prosecute if that's the case.

[Hot Tabasco]

At the age of 36, my nephew finally accepted a full time job with Royal Oak Beaumont...........The prior 18 years of his life were spent in med school training ultimately culminating with his graduation from Harvard Medical school of Thorasic Surgery.........

A carton of eggs isn't going to help him pay for his astronomical debt..........But then again, you get what you pay for.

[Bockscar]

Thank you for posting this.

[comps4spice]

You are exactly right. The problem is so-called “managed care” from any quarter.

[the invisib1e hand]

When markets are illegal, only criminals meet the needs of society.

[Melas]

BAN insurance completely, including govt insurance like medicare/medicaid. Doctors would for the first time in decades have to compete based on what they charge for services. - like an actual private market.

The problem is that insurance is itself a product, and the government has no right or authority to ban it. You can't alter the medical market by closing other markets down by fiat and still call it free.

[djf]

I wish there was some kind of emergency-only insurance I could get.

For one thing, I have no kids, so I would not be running to the clinic every five minutes with some child who has mumps or something.

For another, on a few days, it will be twenty years since I first moved items into my house. And in those twenty years, I have been to a doctor TWO TIMES. Both in the early 90’s.
Once, I cut my finger almost to the bone preparing chicken I think... four stitches. Second time, some crap from a car I was working on fell in my ear and I knew dam well in a couple days it was gonna start hurting and sure enough I had to hit the clinic to have some guy with an accent I didn’t even recognize tell me I had an ear infection so basically I paid for an office visit to get a scrip for antibiotics.

I could take care of both those events now by my own.

[Melas]

When I hear the price some people pay for insurance, I really have to wonder. Some monthly premiums cost more than my typical medical expenses for a whole year.

That's why it's called a free market. You can choose amongst a variety of plans that fit your needs. If you want low cost catastrophic health insurance, it's available. If the guy next door wants expensive, all inclusive health insurance it's likewise available. It is consumer driven as it should be in a free market.