Medicine
When some people say that the U.S. should have a "single payer" health care system, they're generally talking about a system in which government is the exclusive payer of all health care bills. It's tempting to think that in such a system, the money comes from some magic place in the sky, but of course, it ultimately would come from higher payroll or other taxes.
If you take a broad perspective, though the U.S. already has multiple forms of single payer systems. Medicare and Medicaid and the Veterans' Health Administration provide health services that are directly funded by taxpayers. Employer-based and individual health insurers collect premiums from employers, employees, and individuals to create large pools of money that pay the health care bills of their members. In all of these cases, the "single payer" is, ultimately, you.
The trouble with all of these systems is that much of your payments (up to 40 percent in some cases) pay for administrative costs rather than actual health care services. But what if there was a way to cut out the middle men? The Seattle-based practice Qliance Primary Care has developed one innovative solution - charging a flat monthly fee for the full spectrum of primary care services. The practice offers "same or next-day appointments for urgent care, unhurried 30 to 60 minute office visits, 24 hour phone and email access to a physician and the convenience and cost savings of an on-site x-ray, laboratory and 'first-fill' prescription drug dispensary."
Previous medical groups that utilized this business model often charged exorbitant fees, leading critics to label them "boutique" or "concierge" medicine, available only to the wealthy. In contrast, Qliance's fees are quite affordable: from $49 to $79 per month. This fee, combined with a catastrophic health insurance policy to protect against unexpected ER visits or hospitalizations, is significantly less expensive than traditional insurance policies - which makes sense, since 100 percent of payments go directly to the practice rather than being filtered through insurance bureaucrats.
So why aren't there more advocates for a "single payer" health system in which the single payer is you?
- A Modest Proposal: Bribe The Insurance Companies
(apologies to Mr. Swift) Extensive research done by the Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), particularly by Steffie Woolhandler and David Himmelstein, have identified at least $400 BILLION in annual “waste” from our current system of...
- Dear Senator Brownback: A Letter My Kansas Senator
. Dear Senator Brownback: Thank you for the response to my letter urging your support for health reform, and particularly health reform based upon a single-payer mechanism, such as that proposed in the House’s “Improved and Enhanced Medicare for All”...
- Direct Primary Care Called One Of Health Care's "big Ideas"
A Graham Center Policy One-Pager in the April 1st issue of American Family Physician uses historical data to project the effect of the 2010 Primary Care Residency Expansion Program (PCRE). By its conclusion in 2015, the PCRE program...
- Guest Post: Why The Direct Primary Care Model Would Benefit Poor Patients (2 Of 2)
This is the second of two guest posts by Dr. Marguerite Duane. Part 1 is posted here. ** What about specialty care? In the Direct Primary Care model, physicians have more time to spend with their patients to diagnose and treat problems appropriately;...
- Guest Post: Why The Direct Primary Care Model Would Benefit Poor Patients (1 Of 2)
Dr. Marguerite Duane is the past medical director at Spanish Catholic Center of Catholic Charities of Washington, DC; a member of the Folsom Group; and co-founder of the Fertility Appreciation Collaborative to Teach the Systems (FACTS). She will attend...
Medicine
The "single payer" should be you
When some people say that the U.S. should have a "single payer" health care system, they're generally talking about a system in which government is the exclusive payer of all health care bills. It's tempting to think that in such a system, the money comes from some magic place in the sky, but of course, it ultimately would come from higher payroll or other taxes.
If you take a broad perspective, though the U.S. already has multiple forms of single payer systems. Medicare and Medicaid and the Veterans' Health Administration provide health services that are directly funded by taxpayers. Employer-based and individual health insurers collect premiums from employers, employees, and individuals to create large pools of money that pay the health care bills of their members. In all of these cases, the "single payer" is, ultimately, you.
The trouble with all of these systems is that much of your payments (up to 40 percent in some cases) pay for administrative costs rather than actual health care services. But what if there was a way to cut out the middle men? The Seattle-based practice Qliance Primary Care has developed one innovative solution - charging a flat monthly fee for the full spectrum of primary care services. The practice offers "same or next-day appointments for urgent care, unhurried 30 to 60 minute office visits, 24 hour phone and email access to a physician and the convenience and cost savings of an on-site x-ray, laboratory and 'first-fill' prescription drug dispensary."
Previous medical groups that utilized this business model often charged exorbitant fees, leading critics to label them "boutique" or "concierge" medicine, available only to the wealthy. In contrast, Qliance's fees are quite affordable: from $49 to $79 per month. This fee, combined with a catastrophic health insurance policy to protect against unexpected ER visits or hospitalizations, is significantly less expensive than traditional insurance policies - which makes sense, since 100 percent of payments go directly to the practice rather than being filtered through insurance bureaucrats.
So why aren't there more advocates for a "single payer" health system in which the single payer is you?
- A Modest Proposal: Bribe The Insurance Companies
(apologies to Mr. Swift) Extensive research done by the Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), particularly by Steffie Woolhandler and David Himmelstein, have identified at least $400 BILLION in annual “waste” from our current system of...
- Dear Senator Brownback: A Letter My Kansas Senator
. Dear Senator Brownback: Thank you for the response to my letter urging your support for health reform, and particularly health reform based upon a single-payer mechanism, such as that proposed in the House’s “Improved and Enhanced Medicare for All”...
- Direct Primary Care Called One Of Health Care's "big Ideas"
A Graham Center Policy One-Pager in the April 1st issue of American Family Physician uses historical data to project the effect of the 2010 Primary Care Residency Expansion Program (PCRE). By its conclusion in 2015, the PCRE program...
- Guest Post: Why The Direct Primary Care Model Would Benefit Poor Patients (2 Of 2)
This is the second of two guest posts by Dr. Marguerite Duane. Part 1 is posted here. ** What about specialty care? In the Direct Primary Care model, physicians have more time to spend with their patients to diagnose and treat problems appropriately;...
- Guest Post: Why The Direct Primary Care Model Would Benefit Poor Patients (1 Of 2)
Dr. Marguerite Duane is the past medical director at Spanish Catholic Center of Catholic Charities of Washington, DC; a member of the Folsom Group; and co-founder of the Fertility Appreciation Collaborative to Teach the Systems (FACTS). She will attend...