Rajiv Nagaich talks about Concierge medicine a lot on his Saturday morning radio program. Mostly he talks about how people can be much more proactive about an individual’s health by hiring a doctor that isn’t controlled by insurance companies. Concierge doctors don’t wait until you have a heart attack or stroke before ordering tests. They’re available at all times and have the time, due to low numbers of clients, to actually spend talking to you and helping you guard your health and therefore make it easier to stay out of nursing homes.
But a recent Bloomberg Businessweek report identifies a new trend in that area of medicine. That trend is low-cost concierge care. Nunamaker, the physician interviewed for the article, said that patients should consider health insurance like car insurance. Car insurance pays for truly expensive items such as a wreck but it’s the owner’s responsibility to pay for gas, oil changes and routine maintenance. If instead of paying for surgeries, heart attacks, prescriptions and office visits, patients limited their insurance coverage to just the high expense items and paid out of pocket for the minor items, patients could save money.
