And, how have Umbehr and his partners gone about reducing health-care costs? Their biggest trick has been to boot the insurance companies out. Middle men, they call them, and why bring in middle men if they are just going to be an expense?
Another trick has been being frugal with the customer's money. While a six-physician practice not too far away employ a staff of 62, Atlas MD with its three physicians has all of one full-time nurse and one part-time nurse.
Now, if you measure this just in terms of it being a doctor's visit, Atlas MD might not seem that great of a deal. After all, Atlas charges a person in the 20-44 age bracket $50 a month. Considering most of us pay maybe $20 for a co-pay, and don't visit the doctor that often, the rates might even seem high. But, remember, you've already had a big chunk of money taken out of your pay check for insurance and the doctor wouldn't be letting you in for just $20 a visit unless you had the insurance.
With Atlas MD, you don't need to pay for insurance to see a primary care physician. And, as much of the lab work and ultrasounds and testing that they can provide, its all free, all covered by the membership fee.
The rub might be that your membership with Atlas MD doesn't cover a visit to the hospital or to a specialist, should that be necessary. Still, this fee-based medical care minus insurance is a step in the right direction.
Only if this insurance-free model could be expanded to the hospitals. A hospital, instead of using insurance, would invite you to participate by purchasing a membership. In essence, this would be your insurance. I suppose you could call it hospital-based insurance. Hospitals see enough people that the costs for surgeries could be absorbed, same as they are now absorbed by insurance except that this would mean the extra hand in the wallet would be removed.
If the business model is working at Atlas MD, covering just that portion of the medical care, I see no reason why it shouldn't work if expanded to include specialists and hospitals.
Another trick has been being frugal with the customer's money. While a six-physician practice not too far away employ a staff of 62, Atlas MD with its three physicians has all of one full-time nurse and one part-time nurse.
Now, if you measure this just in terms of it being a doctor's visit, Atlas MD might not seem that great of a deal. After all, Atlas charges a person in the 20-44 age bracket $50 a month. Considering most of us pay maybe $20 for a co-pay, and don't visit the doctor that often, the rates might even seem high. But, remember, you've already had a big chunk of money taken out of your pay check for insurance and the doctor wouldn't be letting you in for just $20 a visit unless you had the insurance.
With Atlas MD, you don't need to pay for insurance to see a primary care physician. And, as much of the lab work and ultrasounds and testing that they can provide, its all free, all covered by the membership fee.
The rub might be that your membership with Atlas MD doesn't cover a visit to the hospital or to a specialist, should that be necessary. Still, this fee-based medical care minus insurance is a step in the right direction.
Only if this insurance-free model could be expanded to the hospitals. A hospital, instead of using insurance, would invite you to participate by purchasing a membership. In essence, this would be your insurance. I suppose you could call it hospital-based insurance. Hospitals see enough people that the costs for surgeries could be absorbed, same as they are now absorbed by insurance except that this would mean the extra hand in the wallet would be removed.
If the business model is working at Atlas MD, covering just that portion of the medical care, I see no reason why it shouldn't work if expanded to include specialists and hospitals.
This is also an interesting alternative I came across today http://www.chministries.org/videos.aspx
ReplyDeleteAhh. CHM looks to be based on the same model: paying a membership fee.
ReplyDelete