The AP Does A Nice National Article On Direct Primary Care
It’s always nice to see an article that is positive about DPC, especially one that spreads nationally. This article called Direct primary care cuts out insurance companies. Could it gain traction under Trump? does just that. It features Lee Gross, MD, and his clinic in Florida. Read it for yourself but here are some highlights:
- Direct primary care is an increasingly popular health care option, and experts say it may become more common under health policy changes that President Donald Trump’s administration is expected to pursue. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, mentioned direct primary care during his recent confirmation hearings.
- Direct primary patients say it’s helped them save a significant amount of money on health care, particularly those who don’t have health insurance and would otherwise pay out of pocket.
- In turn, direct primary care physicians say they can spend more time with patients, and it reduces burnout because they don’t have to deal with insurance companies.
- “I see direct primary care as a sort of lifeboat for the system … for the cracks in the system,” Gross said. “And we’re continuing to grow and fill these gaps all across the country.”
Of course, they have to throw in the naysayers with the same old rhetoric. It’s called Negative DPC Bingo and the terms are:
- Only for the rich
- Not enough primary care doctors to see everyone if they do DPC
- Abandonment
- Only for the healthy
- Not in every community
- It doesn’t cover everything like hospitalization and specialists, etc.
- Cherry picking
You have heard it all by now. They are almost all untrue but it doesn’t matter.
Great job, Dr. Gross, and to all you DPC docs out there, keep it up!
(Editor’s Note: Congratulations to Dr. Wendy Molaska, who is also in the article. Great job!)
Just wondering if the two physicians below see patients anymore or if they sit behind a researcher’s desk. It says Dr Woolhandler “worked” in a clinic.
“Having worked in safety-net health systems for most of my career, I have found that many patients struggle to pay for bus fare or $5 copayments,” said Dr. Stephanie Woolhandler, a primary care doctor and researcher at Hunter College in New York.
While direct primary care is “better than nothing,” said Dr. Kevin Schulman at Stanford’s Clinical Excellence Research Center, it’s hugely limited. Direct primary care is not health insurance, so nothing — aside from what the doctor can do in office — is covered.
Hmm – what about the article also mentions Dr. Wendy Molaska and her clinic? And great job Dr. Molaska? Don’t forget us women DPC docs. In fact I’m back at the WI Capitol testifying for bills supporting DPC next week – and also have a meeting with our Governor about it.
Sorry, didn’t want to rewrite the whole article. But Wendy we have highlighted you six times in DPC News already. 🙂 https://dpcnews.com/?s=molaska
Doug Farrago, agreed. How many times you have highlighted Dr Molaska is irrelevant – she was in this article too. Congratulations to Dr Lee Gross and Dr Wendy Molaska for a wonderful article – both forging a path of leadership in the Direct Primary Care community! That should suffice.
It was updated
Amazing story from one of Wendy Molaska’s patients. Makes me wonder if I need to become fluent in Spanish!