Doctor Paul, MD

A small-town doctor working to preserve the art of old-fashioned primary care.

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Well worth it and a few other comments.

August 3, 2015 by Paul Williams 2 Comments

It is interesting, since jumping off of the hamster wheel, the daily barrage of depressive changes in medicine don’t effect me like they did. All the previous items I wrote about are still there and growing, but they don’t touch my daily existence like they did. Generic and branded drug prices are priced ridiculously high, Health insurer mergers and hospital system mergers are growing bigger and bigger- becoming monopolies, hospital prices are bankrupting more and more households, health insurance rates continue to eat more and more of the middle class’s disposable income, and the coding change (ICD-10) is on the horizon. These are all very big issues, no doubt and have to be tackled – but not in the exam room and not to get between my patient’s and me.

Now my focus is on my patients. We have been oppressed in medicine too long. So now we take the time to weed out their concerns, use studies and tests as needed but at affordable prices that they can manage, and prescribe medicines that also do the least damage to their budget. Instead of feeling like I was part of the problem, I have become part of the solution. Both my patients and I have agreed this is good for both sides. They tell me I have changed, much more relaxed, less hurried and they in turn enjoy having a doctor that has more than 10 minutes to spend with them and knows them as persons not diseases.

As we come closer to 2016, there have been predictions that insurance costs will climb a minimum of 15%, and some markets 50%-100%. Already people are struggling in paying the monthly fee, deductible, and medication costs. There is an alternative out there worth looking at instead of opting out of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and paying the penalty that is actually larger than you think. The ACA did allow for an alternative to buying into big insurance debt. There are three “sharing ministries”, two of which are Christian based (Samaritan’s Ministries, Medishare) and the other is not religious based (Libertyhealthshare). I posted this information earlier (Home / Healthcare facts / Alternative to buying health insurance) and felt it was worth bringing back up. For our family the monthly fee is a third or less of what regular insurance would have cost us monthly, not to mention the deductible if we decided to use the insurance. It is worth considering. For some, the ACA fine for not having insurance would be just slightly less than becoming part of one of these share ministries. If you pair what we are offering with one of these ministries, your healthcare costs per month will be significantly less than they are or will be. Buying short term insurance doesn’t help you since you can not avoid the ACA penalty with that type of coverage.

The previous discussion doesn’t pertain to people on Medicare or Medicaid, which are government subsidized plans. Though it could affect Medicare patients who are not on Medicare advantage plans but buy secondary coverage through an Insurance company, since your monthly fee will go up and part D medication coverage will have higher copays. For Medicare age patients to be in a share ministry, there are some stipulations that have to be met to qualify.

Life is good.

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Filed Under: Direct Care

Comments

  1. linda elder says

    January 21, 2016 at 1:50 pm

    Don’t regret our participation. You get wonderful one on one care, time to discuss problems and a doctor that truly listens! Thete is no rushed feeling and you can go in to see them and pay $00. Love the old style of doctoring with all the latest technology. Highly recommend.

    Reply
  2. Julie Burden says

    March 9, 2016 at 11:56 pm

    I probably placed this into incorrect place. I have used a product for 4 plus years called Zango. It’s the drink containing mangosteen. I was diagnosed 3/2012 with stage three/four follicular lymphoma. I have taken three ounces daily and dropped most sugars and processed foods. I feel physically good, the only time I know I have cancer is the fatigue. My labs are normal. I haven’t had any chemo and Seattle Cancer care on the CT’S have shown the active lymph nodes to have decreased in size. I wanted to share since I truly believe diet, stress, are a big factor in our health. Dr David was our family Dr for many years. Praying for Theresa and family.

    Reply

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About Doctor Paul

Dr. Paul Williams, MD is a small-town family practice doctor working in Centralia, Washington. He works from the same office where his primary care practice was established by his father over 38 years ago. He believes strongly that the art of the old-fashioned primary care doctor is an important feature of our medical system that should be preserved and protected from excess interference from insurance companies and government regulation alike.

Due to changes in the health care industry and regulations affecting it, and in an effort to preserve the art of old-fashioned primary care, Dr. Paul has shifted his practice to a Direct Care model, meaning that patients pay an affordable monthly fee to purchase primary care health care services directly, rather than having their services billed through an insurance company.

This blog is intended to help Dr. Paul's patients (and anyone else!) understand the changes the medical industry is going through, and to provide information about the Direct Care model of primary care.

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