WHY NO INSURANCE ACCEPTED

1. More One-on-One Time

One of the biggest benefits of cash-only doctors is that you typically get more one-on-one time with your physician. When you pay your doctor directly, they work for you, not the insurance companies. If you need an hour of their time, you get an hour.

Ashley Maltz, a cash-only doctor, writes on MedPage that when she worked in a traditional clinic, she spent an average of 16 hours per week just writing notes to satisfy insurance companies so she could get reimbursed for her services. Now, she no longer has to do that and can instead spend more time with her patients.

2. More Flexibility With Appointments

According to the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, in an average family practice, each full-time physician is typically assigned 2,500 patients and some are assigned up to 4,000. It’s no wonder we feel like cattle being herded through the branding gates when we arrive for an appointment.

Cash-only doctors have far fewer patients. Some may have as few as 200, while others may have as many as 1,000. Limiting their number of patients means these doctors can spend more time talking and listening to each one. They can also offer their patients same-day or next-day appointments.

Cash-only doctors also have complete freedom in how they see their patients. In-office visits are often necessary, but many medical issues can be diagnosed using technology such as FaceTime or Skype. Doctors also communicate with patients through text or email to further save time and make themselves more available.

3. Price Transparency

A cash-only system allows you to see exactly how much you’re paying for each service, even for complicated procedures.

For example, the Ocean Surgery Center in Torrance, California, a cash-only outpatient surgery clinic, posts the costs for all surgeries online. According to its estimates, procedures at the Center cost 40% to 60% less than the same procedures elsewhere. Why? Because it has a staff of around 40 people, and no one has to waste time haggling with insurance companies or doing medical coding to ensure they get reimbursed. With insurance out of the picture, they’re far more efficient.

According to TIME magazine, most insurance companies specifically bar hospitals from publicly disclosing their reimbursement rates. That’s why if you call around checking prices for a specific service, such as a knee replacement, you might find one hospital charging $16,000 for the procedure, while a hospital in the next town charges $65,000.

Also, by cutting out the middleman, cash-only physicians can offer many medications to their patients at a low cost, often wholesale plus 10%.

4. Better Care

According to researcher Dave Chase, interviewed by AARP, doctors don’t always have the freedom to treat their patients as they see fit. In order to get reimbursed by insurance companies, physicians often have to treat a patient’s chief concern based on how the insurance company says they should treat that concern. So, they order a test or send the patient to a specialist instead of talking to them about what’s happening or using alternative treatments.

Cash-only doctors have the freedom to treat their patient’s health concerns as they see fit. After all, this is why they got into medicine. When they have the time and freedom to do so, most doctors can develop a comprehensive treatment plan that includes behavioral changes, procedures, and medications that can address multiple issues.

Levin, H (2020) The Rise of Cash-Only Doctors Who Don’t Take Insurance – Pros & Cons Retrieved from: https://www.moneycrashers.com/cash-only-doctors-no-insurance/