Friday, May 08, 2009

Doctor offers flat-rate care: Government says NO!

A NY doctor offers flat-rate care for $79 a month for unlimited visits and care. Government does its due diligence and does it parts. It reprimands the doctor, telling him he's got to either change his policy or stop offering the plan.

"Dr. John Muney, president of AMG Medical Group, said he started the program in September after noticing that many of his patients were losing their jobs, and therefore, their health insurance coverage.

About 500 people have registered for Muney's $79-a-month plan, accounting for 15 percent of patients at the practice, which has offices in each of New York's five boroughs.

The monthly $79 fee -- roughly equivalent to the price of a Starbucks coffee a day -- covers unlimited preventive visits and onsite medical services such as minor surgery, physical therapy, lab work and gynecological care.

Ilana Clay, a 28-year-old who works in marketing for a jewelry firm, said she signed up in March because she could not afford her employer's health insurance, which would have cost around $300 a month.

"I hadn't been to a doctor in a couple of years at that point," she told Reuters. She had a scar removed in a quick onsite procedure that was covered by the plan.

Muney said another patient came in with a tumor on her finger: "Somebody else asked $3,000 to remove it. The first visit, we were able to remove it, 15 minutes it took us."


[Article] Doctor cares for $79 per month

1 comment:

  1. This is the same government that drove the price of college tuition in this country through the roof by guaranteeing all the loans, which in turn made it so the universities knew they could increase tuition.

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