Why Smart Patients Are Ditching Medicare for Cash Doctors

Hi, I’m Dr. Jay and I want to welcome you back to the Espre Health podcast. It’s not even a podcast. This is just like an emergency alert because I just found out yesterday that um the cash practice thing that we’ve been like, “Yeah, cash practice is amazing.” is more amazing because what Medicare is doing now, they just announced it is they’re saying that when a Medicare patient goes to see a doctor, they can the doctor can bill for the office visit, but if you need anything else during that office visit, like um if you need uh something cut off your arm because you have a little spot or if you need to have a little procedure done by your ear, nose, and throat guy or they’re not going to allow that anymore at full pay. They’re going to cut your pay in half. So, what used to be something that was super convenient for a patient, the doctor, they go to the doctor and they say, “Hey, doc, I don’t feel so good.” He said, “Well, you’ve got a lump in your uh ear canal, let me take that.” Instead of getting the ENT doc, instead of getting $100, they tell them, “I’m sorry. We’re going to cut your pay. We’re only going to pay you 50 bucks.” And that’s not even going to pay for the little scooper, right? So, it’s not going to work. But, it’s a way that the government can cut the amount of money they’re spending. I love that. I think the government spending less is really good, but making it so that patients are so inconvenient. So that means that that patient’s going to come to the doctor’s office and they’re going to say, “Okay, I got a problem.” And the doctor says, “Man, I would love to do this for you today, but I actually will lose money if I do it. So you’re going to need to come back again tomorrow.” Like, what if they live an hour away? What if they’re busy? I’m on Medicare. I don’t have time for that. That’s ridiculous, right? But if you’re in a cash practice or you see a doctor who accept cash as payment and has opted out of Medicare, you can negotiate that price with a doctor and say, “Can I pay you for the visit and you can do the procedure today so I can go about my merry way and and take care of my life and then you can do it.” So that’s why we are really laser focused on doctors really making the decision to let the federal government do its thing and that’s fine, but really take great care of patients so that they aren’t inconvenienced. They’re not rationed in terms of the care that they’re getting and then losing out on the opportunity to get treated. And what happens worst of all is that patient, they’re under the care of their doctor at that moment. And the doctor says, “This spot on your skin is I don’t like the way it looks. It’s got a funny color to it. It’s got borders on it. It’s asymmetrical. It looks like it could be a melanoma. I mean, it could be something bad. Let me biopsy it for you. I’m sorry. We can’t, we’re not going to pay you really enough to actually make any money on that. We’re just going to cut your pain out.” So the opportunity to save that guy’s life may be compromised. It’s a really big deal. So what we need to do is we need to acknowledge that the government’s trying to save money. God bless him. Great. But doctors have a responsibility to take great care of patients. And at times you just have to make some decisions that are a little bit uh radical. And the radical decision would be opt out of Medicare or if you’re a Medicare patient, find a doctor who’s made that decision so that they’re able to take good care of you without the limitations that risk either just a complete waste of your time, which is probably the minimal problem, or they miss an opportunity to do life-saving things that could make a gigantic difference in your life. So, I’m Dr. Jay. This is the Espre Health podcast, and this is just kind of an alert about why it’s so important to keep your eye on that cash practice ball. concierge, DPC, all the different ways that doctors are actually able to provide you with excellent care um without any limitations so that you can get the best. Keep watching.