A Bullish Look at Direct Pay Medicine and Surgery

Never be on the bear side but on the bull side when the United States is in question.

John Pierpoint Morgan (1837-1913), American capitalist and financier

My Kindle Book, Direct Pay Independent Practice: Medicine and Surgery, is now available on Amazon.com for $9.97. The book describes the current state of direct pay/concierge medicine and direct pay ambulatory surgery centers.

These forms of health care delivery have grown remarkably since the advent and implementation of ObamaCare.

Why?

1)Largely because of sharp spikes in health plan premiums for most Americans;

2) the inconveniences , uncertainties, restrictions, and high administrative costs of accessing care through 3rd parties, government and private;

3) the yearning for more personal care from personal physicians.

Some of the 12 direct pay participants interviewed in the book claim ObamaCare is their best salesman because direct pay represents a sensible, affordable, transparent, and predictable alternative to the health law.

Direct pay care may have reached a tipping point, which Malcolm Gladwell defines as “that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social event passes a threshold, and spreads like wildfire.” ("The Tipping Point," Little Brown, 2000).

Direct pay is not yet a wildfire, but it is a smoldering brush fire. It bears watching because the health reform bears are watching it.