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posted by Fnord666 on Monday June 05 2017, @04:37PM   Printer-friendly
from the can't-take-it-with-you dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

SAN FRANCISCO — When John Battelle's teenage son broke his leg at a suburban soccer game, naturally the first call his parents made was to 911. The second was to Dr. Jordan Shlain, the concierge doctor here who treats Mr. Battelle and his family. "They're taking him to a local hospital," Mr. Battelle's wife, Michelle, told Dr. Shlain as the boy rode in an ambulance to a nearby emergency room in Marin County. "No, they're not," Dr. Shlain instructed them. "You don't want that leg set by an E.R. doc at a local medical center. You want it set by the head of orthopedics at a hospital in the city." Within minutes, the ambulance was on the Golden Gate Bridge, bound for California Pacific Medical Center, one of San Francisco's top hospitals. Dr. Shlain was there to meet them when they arrived, and the boy was seen almost immediately by an orthopedist with decades of experience.

For Mr. Battelle, a veteran media entrepreneur, the experience convinced him that the annual fee he pays to have Dr. Shlain on call is worth it, despite his guilt over what he admits is very special treatment. "I feel badly that I have the means to jump the line," he said. "But when you have kids, you jump the line. You just do. If you have the money, would you not spend it for that?"

Increasingly, it is a question being asked in hospitals and doctor's offices, especially in wealthier enclaves in places like Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco and New York. And just as a virtual velvet rope has risen between the wealthiest Americans and everyone else on airplanes, cruise ships and amusement parks, widening inequality is also transforming how health care is delivered. Money has always made a big difference in the medical world: fancier rooms at hospitals, better food and access to the latest treatments and technology. Concierge practices, where patients pay several thousand dollars a year so they can quickly reach their primary care doctor, with guaranteed same-day appointments, have been around for decades.

But these aren't the concierge doctors you've heard about — and that's intentional.

Dr. Shlain's Private Medical group does not advertise and has virtually no presence on the web, and new patients come strictly by word of mouth. But with annual fees that range from $40,000 to $80,000 (more than 10 times what conventional concierge practices charge), the suite of services goes far beyond 24-hour access or a Nespresso machine in the waiting room.

Indeed, as many Americans struggle to pay for health care — or even, with the future of the Affordable Care Act in question on Capitol Hill, face a loss of coverage — this corner of what some doctors call the medical-industrial complex is booming: boutique doctors and high-end hospital wards.

-- submitted from IRC


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 05 2017, @07:07PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 05 2017, @07:07PM (#520907)

    Having single payer is just such a no-brainer I don't know why we don't have it.

    No wait, I do know why we don't have it. Too many people have been trained like good dogs to go OMG socialism! when asked about "single payer" and to pretend that somehow they're not paying for the disabled, the elderly, the poor, and (to some extent) the illegals. Or wouldn't be if not for that "Baraq Hussein Soetoro" guy. But whatever. There is no rational, logical, empirical, evidence-based reason we shouldn't have it (plenty of fantasy scenarios a.k.a. fairy stories out of the right for why they oppose it, and no, I've no idea how we get through to the right that fairy stories are not a good basis for policy... next thing you know we'll decide our leaders based on watery tarts lobbing scimitars at them, though that might be an improvement over the current system).

  • (Score: 2) by VLM on Monday June 05 2017, @07:34PM (3 children)

    by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Monday June 05 2017, @07:34PM (#520928)

    Too many people have been trained like good dogs to go OMG socialism! when asked about "single payer"

    AC has it, and with the alt-right / national socialist / whatever people on the rise, and the legacy neocon "OMG Socialism" folks on the dramatic decline in the R party...

    Remember that incredibly hokey Star Trek Movie where Spock dropped some insightful line about "Only Nixon could have gone to China" and likewise the only hope the country has medically right now is Trump and the natsoc types on /pol/ to go single payer. "Only Trump could implement single payer". Honestly I think he's just biding his time till obamacare totally collapses, then he can drop some executive orders for national security emergency reasons etc.. which will get fought for purely political reasons until they reach the Supreme Court which he controls... Congress has proven beyond any reasonable doubt that they cannot fix the problem, that they're the cause of the problem, so its gotta come from the exec branch in "crisis mode" and then once Trump fixes everything, it can be codified by the legislative branch.

    I don't see an alternative where the outcome is any better. It is the best case scenario. If he pulls that off, he's going to end up on friggin Mt Rushmore...

    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 05 2017, @08:28PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 05 2017, @08:28PM (#520962)

      The saddest part is that you think Trump is playing extra dimensional chess. He has repeatedly shown that he is only there for crony capitalism and he has zero regard for the general public, even his own supporters! Creating some crisis and then using powers that amount to a dictatorship... that is some pipe dream you've got. I guess there are a million ways to rationalize a bad choice, but this is getting silly.

      "No no, THIS time Trump is really gonna stick it to the man!!"

      "Wait, that was just a set up for the REAL reason he did that crap, now he's really gonna change things for the better!!"

      And on and on and on. He is a con artist "strong man" who has made his money screwing other people over. All he's got is a stupid air of confidence and enough money to push his way around. Stop giving him the benefit of the doubt and actually listen to the shit he says.

      • (Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday June 06 2017, @03:36PM (1 child)

        by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 06 2017, @03:36PM (#521371)

        actually listen to the shit he says

        I prefer reviewing what he's done, and I'm pretty happy so far.

        I like what he says, mostly.

        I've heard he's done a lot of awful stuff in a vague sense but in terms of concrete examples the conversation kinda dries up.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 06 2017, @07:22PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 06 2017, @07:22PM (#521506)

          actually listen to the shit he says

          I prefer reviewing what he's done, and I'm pretty happy so far.

          Oh, really? Tell us what he has done so far that you are pretty happy with. Be specific.

          I like what he says, mostly.

          What has he said that appeals so much to you? Again, be specific.

          I've heard he's done a lot of awful stuff in a vague sense but in terms of concrete examples the conversation kinda dries up.

          I guess, if it hasn't been reported by Breitbart then it just doesn't cross your radar, eh?