Portland ME: Doctor goes to cash only, drops all gov. and ins. claims. Prices tumble.

This doctor deserves our business.

He is exactly right.

Only healthcare, and its bloated overhead and government interference, provides a service that you have no idea how much it costs.

If you bought a car in this fashion, you'd end up with steam powered HumVee with bicycle tires and Tiffany glass in the windshield.


South Portland doctor stops accepting insurance, posts prices online

http://bangordailynews.com/2013/05/27/news/portland/south-portland-doctor-stops-accepting-insurance-posts-prices-online/

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — Dr. Michael Ciampi took a step this spring that many of his fellow physicians would describe as radical.

The family physician 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.

Given that he was now asking patients to pay for his services out of pocket, he posted his prices on the practice’s website.

The change took effect April 1.

“It’s been almost unanimous that patients have expressed understanding at why I’m doing what I’m doing, although I’ve had many people leave the practice because they want to be covered by insurance, which is understandable,” Ciampi said.

Before the switch, Ciampi had about 2,000 patients. He lost several hundred, he said. Some patients with health coverage, faced with having to seek reimbursement themselves rather than through his office, bristled at the paperwork burden.

But the decision to do away with insurance allows Ciampi to practice medicine the way he sees fit, he said. Insurance companies no longer dictate how much he charges. He can offer discounts to patients struggling with their medical bills.

He can make house calls.

“I’m freed up to do what I think is right for the patients,” Ciampi said. “If I’m providing them a service that they value, they can pay me, and we cut the insurance out as the middleman and cut out a lot of the expense.”

Ciampi expects more doctors will follow suit. Some may choose to run “concierge practices” in which patients pay to keep a doctor on retainer, he said.

Gordon Smith, a spokesman for the Maine Medical Association, wasn’t so sure, saying most patients either want to use the insurance they pay for or need to rely on Medicare and Medicaid.

Even with the loss of some patients, Ciampi expects his practice to perform just as well financially, if not better, than before he ditched insurance. The new approach will likely attract new patients who are self-employed, lack insurance or have high-deductible plans, he said, because Ciampi has slashed his prices.

“I’ve been able to cut my prices in half because my overhead will be so much less,” he said.

Before, Ciampi charged $160 for an office visit with an existing patient facing one or more complicated health problems. Now, he charges $75.

Patients with an earache or strep throat can spend $300 at their local hospital emergency room, or promptly get an appointment at his office and pay $50, he said.

Ciampi collects payment at the end of the visit, freeing him of the time and costs associated with sending bills, he said.

That time is crucial to Ciampi. When his patients come to his office, they see him, not a physician’s assistant or a nurse practitioner, he said.

“If more doctors were able to do this, that would be real health care reform,” he said. “That’s when we’d see the cost of medicine truly go down.”

There also was a doctor in Wolfeboro that did more or less the same thing. But he didn't last long. He is now gone. I don't know what the issue was but he is gone. I guess people must buy a hospital only policy if they use this type of doctor??? I wonder if people will be able to do that though when Obamacare is fully implemented??

WHL wrote:There also was a doctor in Wolfeboro that did more or less the same thing.  But he didn't last long.  He is now gone. I don't know what the issue was but he is gone.  I guess people must buy a hospital only policy if they use this type of doctor???  I wonder if people will be able to do that though when Obamacare is fully implemented??

About right.

Well, Boobus will get just what he deserves then, I guess.

For now, but I imagine it will be banned in the not too distant future.

That Portland doctor will be skimming the best-paying patients, so his idea to reduce costs will probably get banned under ObamaCare.

WHL wrote:There also was a doctor in Wolfeboro that did more or less the same thing.  But he didn't last long.  He is now gone. I don't know what the issue was but he is gone.  I guess people must buy a hospital only policy if they use this type of doctor???  I wonder if people will be able to do that though when ObamaCare is fully implemented??

Remember, under ObamaCare, "You can keep your doctor"?

Back during the 60s-spurt in drug abuse crime, doctors were making house calls. That stopped when they were being robbed of their black bags.

Our present excellent doctors would be advised to get a law degree, and testify (richly) in ObamaCare -malpractice lawsuits. You don't suppose that's why lawyers overwhelmingly send Obama big checks?



Of course, to stay solvent, I expect ObamaCare will remove the freedom to sue for malpractice. Their reasoning: "Hey, why take ObamaCare to court, when you "got 'it' free"?

Under an ObamaCare provision, "new" doctors-in-training are promised degrees in their choice of language. I don't want Somali doctors listening to my woes in their "second Language".

America's medical practice will be set-back to the years of The Great Depression.