The Hard Costs of Concierge Medicine in America.

By Michael Tetrault, Concierge Medicine Today

JAN 25, 2011 - We (Concierge Medicine Today) believe if more people are exposed to the cost value of concierge medical care, it will make big difference in what they spend. A recent story in The New York Times supports this belief. The paper reports that the state of Indiana has a high-deductible plan and another that's a traditional HMO. People in the high-deductible plan spend thousands less than those in the HMO.

"The average expense in 2009 for patients on one of these [high-deductible] plans was $6,393," the paper writes, "compared with $8,570 for patients enrolled in a more traditional health maintenance organization plan."

It's also a little known fact that over 63% of concierge medical programs across the U.S. cost an individual less than $135 per month. (Source: Concierge Medicine Today, April 2010). Some programs cost as little as $10 per month for children. AtlasMD in Wichita, KS, the first concierge medical practice in Wichita offers flat monthly fees ranging from $10 per month for kids and $50 ,$75 or even $100 per month for adults based upon age. Members of AtlasMD receive unlimited access to the doctor at their home, work or the doctor's office along with unlimited "technology visits" like cell phone, web cam, email and texting. Furthermore, many concierge physicians offer access to wholesale pricing on prescriptions, lab tests, imaging services and medical supplies for pennies on the dollar, like Dr. Chris Ewin of 121MD in Fort Worth, TX.

The Concierge Medicine Research Collective recently submitted this data to Smart Money and told them that 'Utilizing a blended rate based upon national averages for current fees charged for concierge medical care, an estimated 9,285,714,286 people could be provided concierge medical care with the 13 trillion dollar debt. Carrying this out 928,571,429 people could be provided this care for 10 years. These figures are based upon information obtained through average pricing surveys conducted from 2009-2010 by Concierge Medicine Today (CMT).'

Here's the upshot:

When you combine high-deductible health plan policies with a concierge medical program, you empower people and families to make better decisions about their health care, they in turn receive more comprehensive medical care and then the savings happen and stronger relationships occur between the physician and their patients. Dr. Marcy Zwelling's statement (a successful concierge physician in Los Alamitos, CA) encompasses this fact when she says her patients can say 'I no longer have a doctor who needs to look at my chart to know my name.'