Health Care Financing Question?

Question

I have a question. My daughter's doctor accepts insurance. For people that are uninsured, she has a sliding scale based on income. A woman told me that based on her father's income of $40,000.00 per year for a family of 4, she usually pays about $9.00 for an office visit. How is this possible? Who pays the rest? I wonder about this, because for my insurance, the co-pay alone is $45.00. Can the doctor really afford to see one patient for only $9.00? Or is there another subsidy that I am unaware of? If anyone knows the answer to this, please give lots of details, because it has been bothering me ever since I had the conversation with that young lady.

Answer 1

The doctor can write the rest off as an unpaid business expense - or basically, charity.

No, the doctor couldn't make a LIVING off of $9 patients - that wouldn't cover the OFFICE expenses or medical malpractice.

The doctor is being NICE. There's no other subsidy. It's called, CHARITY. And I really admire a doctor that can practice charity in this matter.

Answer 2

Your daughter's doctor is one of the few truly charitable physicians out there. No doc can make a living on $9 office visits. She's simply charging a minimal fee to those who cannot afford health care under the current system.

My wife's own practice does something similar for military veterans who are stuck ONLY with VA coverage. The good old VA was three years backlogged on screening colonoscopies, and some of these fine old vets were getting colon cancer from lack of care. The practice stepped in and offered pro bono screening colonoscopies to veterans who had been forced to wait through the system.

You won't hear physician practices tooting their own horns over such acts, since there's always a cadre of clowns who think they should get in on the free ride in some fashion.

Answer 3

No one pays the rest. One patient? Sure. The doctor can charge what she wants. If it is based on income for the uninsured she is doing a public service.