5 ms·

Doesn't this exist in almost every country? There is always market for rich to get better health care.

• atemerev 9y ago
  Unfortunately, no. $40000 per year sounds expensive, but I pay half that much in Switzerland, and my medical experiences are much worse than described. In fact, if somebody would just freed me from any worries about hospital bills, negotiations, late fees, appointments etc, I would consider paying $40000 flat yearly rate to get everything covered (if for the whole family). Unfortunately, it looks impossible in Switzerland. There are concierge services, but they just add their own bill on top of hospital bills.
  • deleted 9y ago
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  • natoliniak 9y ago
    the $40k mentioned does not cover hospital stay. From the article: "The annual fee covers the cost of visits, all tests and procedures in the office, house calls and just about anything else other than hospitalization"
    • atemerev 9y ago
      Hospital _stay_ -- no. Hospital visits -- yes. Most of my medical expenses to date were unrelated to hospital stay (though it is the hospital who issued the bulk of the bills). All in all, I have payed around $100k for medical expenses since 2011. I.e. I am OK with the terms. I would prefer to pay a little less, $40k is outside of my affordable range ($24k is more like it). However, if absolutely unnegotiable, I might put it on wishlist for the next 3-4 years.
      • natoliniak 9y ago
        Although the article doesn't specify the details of the program, but a typical visit to a hospital emergency room in the US is billed differently than a regular office visit with much higher mandatory co pays. By the example given in the article, it seems like their private "concierge" doctor shows up at the hospital, but what about the other costs associated with the visit? nursing costs, xray, ambulance, labs, other doctors? all of those are billed separately and patient's responsibility, and they are not cheap. If that 40k covers those additional costs at 100% as well, then it actually sounds like great value, but somehow i doubt it. But anyway, the folks on the $40k/yr plan probably are not concerned about the additional cost they just want fast private service.
        • atemerev 9y ago
          According to the article, $40k is the flat rate for everything except hospital stay, which makes a lot of economical sense. If it is $40k _on top_ of existing medical expenses (which I doubt), it is just another toy for the wealthy, and will not gain significant traction. "Regular" concierge service is usually much less expensive.
• ThomPete 9y ago
  No. It's really as simple as that. only the US allow for this. Edit: To all the down-voters. The article isn't about private healthcare which in the US is more the rule than the exception. It's about a layer on top of private healthcare. Of course private healthcare exist in other countries. But this concierge layer for "normal" rich people you will be hard pressed to find many other places I ma pretty sure off (but could be wrong of course). Unless you are a politician or royal or something.
  • kcorbitt 9y ago
    While there may be some countries that disallow private healthcare entirely, the international situation is far more nuanced than your comment implies. For example, I lived in Spain, where most people use the highly functional public health system but there is a parallel private healthcare industry that is also very effective (and still reasonably priced, compared to private healthcare in the US).
    • ThomPete 9y ago
      Yes private healthcare systems of course they exist in other countries. But the article is as far as I understand it about something else. It's about a layer on top of the already existing private healthcare system in the US.
  • mtalantikite 9y ago
    Many countries have parallel private medical care. The egregious thing is that the US doesn't even have an affordable public option for the rest of the population.
    • ThomPete 9y ago
      Completely agree. I didn't mean to say only the US has private healthcare. I was reading the article as an extra layer on top of the already existing private healthcare with even better access than ex my Aethna all access bla bla thing.
  • ezequiel-garzon 9y ago
• hamstercat 9y ago
  Some countries with public health care disallows private medicine practice. Where I live health care is neither the worst nor the best in the world. If you're dying then you'll be taken cared of with low out of pocket expenses (mostly drugs). On the other hand if what you have isn't life-or-death, it can take months or years before it'll be taken of. More recently, they started allowing private practice but there are rules for how much time a doctor can work vs in the public system. Tbh I'm not sure I how stand on it, it's a complex problem with many variables. The only thing I'm sure of is your wealth shouldn't affect your chance of living or dying, and for that we're better off with a public system. Should a private system also exist in parallel? Time will tell I guess.
  • JumpCrisscross 9y ago
    > Some countries with public health care disallows private medicine practice These countries help underwrite the thriving medical tourism markets in places like Thailand and India.
• Swizec 9y ago
  As far as I know, most of Europe has effective public healthcare. And those same doctors have a parallel private practice which gives you the same treatment but faster. For a pittance. For example. To see a dentist in Slovenia there is a 6 month waiting list. But if you pay 20eur, you go to their private practice and see them in 2 weeks. Optometrists are a several month as well. But you can go private, see them in 1 week, and they waive the fee if you buy glasses from them. Bigger procedures get a little more expensive and there are things that don't exist in private (surgery can never be private because the country only has N surgery rooms and they are booked up with public stuff), but in general it's the same doctors and the same service in private and public health care. Private lessens your waiting times and the doctor is a bit nicer to you. Now that I'm in the US I'm essentially terrified of needing a doctor even with insurance because of the crazy copay and deductible and in-network out-network system. Been here 3 years, never needed a doctor thank god.
  • michaelmrose 9y ago
    I wonder to what degree the waits in Slovenia are exacerbated by the people that pay to jump the queue. If you only have one pool of doctors to draw from then those who are seem faster by paying are slowing down the remainder. If its a small enough difference that a significant portion pay the slow down could be substantial.
    • Swizec 9y ago
      Probably a huge effect. I'm sure all doctors with their own practices also make sure to only work the legal minimum of public hours.
• pfarnsworth 9y ago
  Not in Canada. In Canada, this would be illegal.
  • icelancer 9y ago
    Err... definitely not. Shouldice Hospital is one such example.
    • pfarnsworth 9y ago
      OHIP covers Shouldice Hospital. There are no private hospitals in Canada, that is strictly illegal.