Thursday, April 08, 2004
Cash-based health care gets more press
[Alexandra Marks, "Medical care paid for in cash - and cheaper," The Christian Science Monitor, 7 April 2004.]
The media has apparently just gotten wind of a mini-revolution in health care, and now everyone's talking about it:
The founders of SimpleCare believe it's "the future of health care." Its goal: to restore the "soul" of America's medical practice.
This loose network of doctors and patients believe they can do it by opting out of the expensive, complex, and bureaucratic world of insurance and managed care. Instead, they're trading in simple dollars and, they argue, common sense.
Unlike the Park Avenue cash-only doctors who cater to the rich, these providers serve moderate- and low-income people - those without insurance or with a high-deductible plan. The goal is to give the same quality of care, but with a discount by passing along the paperwork savings.
That's made visiting a doctor's office possible for thousands of people who otherwise couldn't afford it - people like Aleata Leete, a semiretired nurse on a fixed income. And it's given more than 1,500 doctors a new sense of freedom in their practice as they lower the cost of services. Some analysts believe that if the trend continues, allowing many of the 43 million uninsured Americans access to affordable healthcare, the overall cost of healthcare could come down.
[Alexandra Marks, "Medical care paid for in cash - and cheaper," The Christian Science Monitor, 7 April 2004.]
The media has apparently just gotten wind of a mini-revolution in health care, and now everyone's talking about it:
The founders of SimpleCare believe it's "the future of health care." Its goal: to restore the "soul" of America's medical practice.
This loose network of doctors and patients believe they can do it by opting out of the expensive, complex, and bureaucratic world of insurance and managed care. Instead, they're trading in simple dollars and, they argue, common sense.
Unlike the Park Avenue cash-only doctors who cater to the rich, these providers serve moderate- and low-income people - those without insurance or with a high-deductible plan. The goal is to give the same quality of care, but with a discount by passing along the paperwork savings.
That's made visiting a doctor's office possible for thousands of people who otherwise couldn't afford it - people like Aleata Leete, a semiretired nurse on a fixed income. And it's given more than 1,500 doctors a new sense of freedom in their practice as they lower the cost of services. Some analysts believe that if the trend continues, allowing many of the 43 million uninsured Americans access to affordable healthcare, the overall cost of healthcare could come down.
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