lbo-talk-digest V1 #4546

Leslilake1 at aol.com Leslilake1 at aol.com
Mon Jul 2 23:44:41 PDT 2001


Is this really that expensive? The last time I tried to buy health insurance as an individual (on my own, not as an employee), the quotes were between $300-$400 a month - and that was about five years ago, I think....

In a message dated 01-07-02 21:45:28 EDT, you write:

<< Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 18:37:17 -0400

From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com>

Subject: class medicine

Business Week - July 9, 2001

MEDI-TREND

The Doctor Will Really See You Now

White-glove service, not generally associated with the

cost-beleaguered medical industry, is catching on among doctors.

Frustrated with managed care, they're quitting HMOs and setting up

competition--expensive, specialized groups for patients willing to

pay. Such service has long been available on Park Avenue and in a few

progressive practices in Seattle; but now, MDVIP, a four-month-old

company in Boca Raton, Fla., has been helping several Florida doctors

launch upscale medical groups. It expects 100 affiliated physicians

by next year.

"We've already started moving into the Northeast and California,"

says Andrew Ripps, MDVIP's chief operating officer. "The potential is

tremendous."

It works like this: Doctors quit their HMOs and close their

practices, then relaunch with no more than 600 patients paying $1,500

a year. For the fee, plus a per-visit cost averaging $50 to $75,

patients get same-day or next-day appointments, special phone

numbers, and other services. Patients can still use private medical

insurance, Medicare, or out-of-network provisions for reimbursement.

"It's so much more professionally satisfying," says Robert Colton, an

internist who switched after becoming fed up with shrinking HMO

reimbursements and a 3,000-patient load that didn't allow time for

care.

But some medical ethicists are troubled by the trend. "We're going to

have a class of haves and have-nots," says John Lincourt, a

bioethicist at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. But to

MDVIP, it's about choice. "We view it much the same as the choice

between private school and public school," says Edward Goldman, an

MDVIP investor. "Not everyone can send their kids to private school."

Or to a white-glove doctor.

By Aixa M. Pascual >>



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list