"Concierge Service" in the Doctor's Office - Is This Where Medical Care is Headed?

Recently, I got a phone call from an organization taking a survey on behalf of my primary physician. After some questions about office wait time and other things, they got down to the real purpose of the call - "concierge service." Apparently, some doctors, under the guise of providing more personal service (no waiting, longer appointments, etc.) they are developing the "Concierge" level of medicine. Those who are willing to pay a non-reimbursable by insurance yearly fee that would start at around $1500 would get this extra attention and care. Who knows what kind of care would be doled out to those who couldn't afford that fee, and could only depend on their health insurance to cover their costs. Perhaps this could have prevented the recent incident in Kings County Hospital in which a woman waiting in the psychiatric emergency room for many hours couldn't even get attention after she fell out of her chair and died. If she had been fortunate enough to pay for "Concierge" service, someone would have assisted her.

This whole idea is despicable. Of course, I'd be fooling myself if I didn't think that certain people, elected officials come to mind, didn't already get this kind of medical luxury service. The middle class, already bleeding money for food and gas, will now have to make additional budgetary choices - and who wouldn't want their children to get concierge service from their primary physician? Especially if by not paying for it, it means limited access to doctors, longer waiting time, and even perhaps being forced to use the Emergency Room for day to day illnesses. There is no experience outside of hell that could equate to dealing with a baby with an ear infection and being told the doctor can see you in 12 hours - or maybe even next week. And middle-class adults, who are already contemplating whether to buy gas or fill their own prescriptions, may further delay their own medical care until the situation becomes dire.

I find this whole proposal especially distasteful because it allows the medical profession to go outside of the Medical Insurance Maelstrom that most of us have to deal with. They get extra money directly from the patient while probably still accepting insurance payments for the service provided during an office visit (no one could clarify how that would work, but I am betting that the $1500 fee does NOT cover your office visit fee, blood tests or anything else other than convenience.) This system will help perpetuate the inequality of medical care, stall medical insurance reforms, and widen the gap between the haves and have-nots.

If your primary physician approaches you to find out if you are interested in Concierge service, I urge you to say "no." We need medical insurance reform, not convenience fees for the well off.