High-End Health Care in the Boardroom – DealBook Blog – NYTimes.com

Spouse travel at Footlocker, out of state physicals at Stryker and executive physicals at Norfolk Southern.

Directors and executives at Norfolk Southern may be among the healthiest out there, judging from the proxy that the company filed Tuesday.  That’s because the railroad operator covers up to $10,000 a year in medical expenses for each nonexecutive director as well as a group of top executives, including Charles W. Moorman IV, its chairman and chief executive. Mr. Moorman spent $4,800 on his physical last year and another $4,800 in 2007. Four other executives spent between $3,800 and $4,800 on the perk.

via High-End Health Care in the Boardroom – DealBook Blog – NYTimes.com.

Filed under: Concierge Medicine, Conflicts of Interest, Executive Compensation, Health Law, Conflicts of Interest, Economics, Law

Finding a Doctor Who Accepts Medicare Isn’t Easy – NYTimes.com

A New York Times article on April 1, 2009 discusses some trends: (i) a national shortage of internists, (ii) more internists and other primary care physicians refusing to accept Medicare entirely or at least new Medicare patients, and (iii) boutique/concierge  medicine.

On the first two points:

[T]he American College of Physicians, the organization for internists, estimates that by 2025 there will be 35,000 to 45,000 fewer than the population needs — and internists are increasingly unwilling to accept new Medicare patients. In a June 2008 report, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, an independent federal panel that advises Congress on Medicare, said that 29 percent of the Medicare beneficiaries it surveyed who were looking for a primary care doctor had a problem finding one to treat them, up from 24 percent the year before. And a 2008 survey by the Texas Medical Association found that while 58 percent of the state’s doctors took new Medicare patients, only 38 percent of primary care doctors did.

On the last point:

Another, more expensive option is concierge or “boutique” care, which comes in two forms. In the most popular kind, doctors accept Medicare and other insurance, but charge patients an annual retainer of $1,600 to $1,800 to get in the door and receive services not covered by Medicare, like annual physicals. Before signing up and paying the retainer, patients should get a written agreement spelling out which services the doctor will bill Medicare for and which the retainer covers. And always check carefully for double-billing…The other form of concierge medicine — doctors who have opted out of Medicare — is more expensive still. Fees range as high as $15,000 a year and cover office visits, access to the doctor when care is needed, referrals to specialists and thorough annual physicals…Dr. Knope, the author of “Concierge Medicine: A New System to Get the Best Healthcare,” has this kind of practice in Tucson. His patients sign a contract agreeing to pay $6,000 a year for individuals and $10,000 a year for couples. The fee covers office visits, physical exams and phone consultations, and Dr. Knope will meet patients in the emergency room, see them in the hospital and occasionally make house calls…A list of about 500 concierge doctors throughout the country is available on Dr. Knope’s Web site, http://www.conciergemedicinemd.com.

via Finding a Doctor Who Accepts Medicare Isn’t Easy – NYTimes.com.

Filed under: CMP, Concierge Medicine, Health Law, Medicare, Payment, Primary Care, Reform, Economics, Finance, Health, Health Law