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Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Carragher who wrote (9143)	9/7/2009 9:23:30 AM
From: skinowski	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

Nice story, John, and apparently you received good care. I copied below their price list. Their enrollment fee (retainer of sorts) is $50 per person per year, $100 per family. Their visits, depending on how involved they are, range from $100 to $200. As of a few years ago, an "intermediate visit" was priced by Medicare at about 60 bucks. Their fees are for relatively basic care. They don't have to have employees sit on the phones and waste hours getting pre-authorizations for procedures and consults. They are "Urgent Care" - anything more involved goes back to other providers. They do not let you off the hook of having to have insurance - or pay - for more involved care - or hospitalizations. Bottom line - they ARE charging reasonable fees, and apparently they ARE good at what they are doing. They actually get paid a lot more per patient compared to docs in practice. That's why so many docs are no longer in practice, and why young docs can't even dream of hanging out a shingle and starting a new practice. From the point of view of the discussions on this thread, it is also interesting that IF those centers are successful with privately paying patients, that would represent an experiment in MARKET PRICING of medical services. That would show what those services are really worth. We already know that the current system of pricing - which in reality is a conspiracy by bureaucrats to rigidly fix fees - is already causing the destruction of primary care medicine. URGENT CARE MEDICAL SAVINGS PLAN Enrollment Fee: Individual - $50/yr Family - $100/yr Level 1: $99 Basic evaluation and treatment of illness and injuries. Level 2: $149 Evaluation and treatment, as above, but requiring one item from list of "Basic Procedures" Level 3: $199 Evaluation and treatment, as above, but requiring more than one item from list of "Basic Procedures" or one item from list of "Advanced Procedures" Basic Procedures EKG Blood drawn for outside lab testing In-house lab testing (Rapid tests) Burn Care Basic Wound Care Laceration care req. (skin glue only) Tetanus Immunizations Medication Injections (non-IV) Aerosol Treatment (nubulizer) Splinting Crutches, braces, or joint supports Skin tag removal Eye anesthesia with irrigation Advanced Procedures Laceration care req. sutures or staples Abscess drainage/packing IV fluids and/or IV medications Nosebleed control Foreign body removal Dislocated joint care Joint injection/Aspiration X-Ray Program Also Includes - $20 Sports/School/Drivers Physicals - $15 Flu Shots - $10 Prescription Medicines (In-house supply) premierimc.com