It looks like more and more hospitals are actually promoting their cash prices and it may become a trend. Check out this article. I wonder who started it?

“The market is going there,” said Larry Van Horn, associate professor of management, law, and health policy and executive director of health affairs at Vanderbilt University. “You’ve got direct primary care, you’ve got physicians going and moving into cash pay. You’re gonna have to sit there at some point and say, ‘Wait a minute, they’re taking my business.'”

Yup, Direct Primary Care for the win.

I did find this stat interesting:

Primary care providers (PCPs) made up the largest proportion of providers accepting cash pay, with 10% of practices charging patients a flat monthly fee for unlimited services.

I don’t know where they got that number but DPC is definitely on the upswing. Here is another quote:

In a 2020 report from the Society of Actuaries, almost all PCPs who operated under self-pay models reported “better or much better” personal and professional satisfaction compared to those under a traditional fee-for-service system. In addition, 34% of respondents reported “better or much better” earnings under a direct payment model.

I truly believe DPC is the only hope to save primary care from burning itself out.

Interestingly enough, hospitals are seeing patients with very large high deductibles who ask about their cash pay options. If it is much less than the deductible some will pay cash betting they never reach their deductible. Isn’t that interesting? I hate that the insurance company gets off the hook but maybe, just maybe, there will be some competition for lower monthly costing insurance options that include DPC and cash pay options.

Unfortunately, this won’t happen quickly because insurance companies are a major pillar in the medical axis of evil:

“Some of the smaller payers, they’re fine with removing [cash pay restrictions],” Scaccia said. “Some of the very, very large payers, they simply will not allow it.”

The hope is still there. Let’s keep the DPC and DSC movement alive and keep pushing the benefits to ourselves and our patients. I believe in the free market system and DPC is the tip of the spear for this. We can change everything.