With obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease on the rise, is Joe Smith now on the road to better health with the new health-care reform bill?
Board-certified internist, Brian Flyer, M.D., believes the road to success starts with getting the right primary-care physician. In fact, waiting to use insurance for access could be a serious mistake. That’s because the insurance model has a longstanding history of dysfunction as a third party payor to physicians. Furthermore, ongoing inflation is automatic since people always spend more when they spend other people’s money.
Many physicians have already stopped accepting insurance because of unreasonably low reimbursements for services. This model will not change with a government program and it is predictable that many physicians will either not participate or hire nurse practitioners to see those patients. In addition, it would be expected that there will be a multitude of unnecessary testing ordered as well.
True health care is not about insurance. Rather, it depends on a solid relationship with a dedicated physician who is available and willing to spend quality time with his patients. If Joe Smith wants the best health care, he would be savvy to find the best primary-care physician he can to serve as his ultimate health adviser. In fact, finding such a physician using out-of-pocket costs should indeed be entirely affordable to most people.
Having a government-subsidized health-insurance plan would make sense to bring the peace of mind needed for coverage of major health expenses if that ever becomes necessary. In fact, ultimately, a good primary-care physician would be instrumental in keeping Joe out of the hospital in the first place.
Dr. Brian Flyer specializes in internal medicine and has been in private practice in Los Angeles for the past 25 years. He is affiliated with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and provides comprehensive health care that focuses on the emotional and physical well-being of his patients. To contact Dr. Flyer call 310-300-1122
