The Washington Post
October 30, 2001
“Some Doctors Are Spurning Managed Care, Giving More Time — and a Bigger Bill — to Their Patients” by Marc Borbely
“Dorothy Faul, a librarian retired from the National Gallery of Art, received a ‘Dear Patient’ letter from her doctor in August that troubled her. Internist Jane Chretien announced that as of Sept. 1, she and Audrey Corson, her partner in Bethesda Physicians, would no longer participate in any health insurance plans.”
“But for most of her patients, the change means having to pay in full, by cash, check or credit card, at the time of service. Then it’s up to them to seek whatever reimbursement they can from their insurance company, should they choose, by submitting the itemized bill they get from their physician. Because Faul is a Medicare patient, she’ll get a bit of a break: Her visit fees will be lower and her doctors are required to continue to file claims to Medicare for her; non-Medicare patients will be given the forms to file themselves.”
“Bryan Arling and David Patterson on M Street, and Beth Unger and her 10 partners on New Mexico Avenue also accept no managed care outside of Medicare.”
“Michael Newman, another internist at 2021 K St. NW, has also never had contracts with private managed care companies, though he emphasizes that he sees Medicare patients and will continue to do so.”
Comment: So physician outrage with managed care has prompted many of them to refuse to accept contracts with private managed care companies. They are even willing to penalize their own patients with higher out-of-pocket expenses since they reject fee limits imposed by insurers, and insurers, in turn, penalize patients for receiving care from out-of-plan physicians. But isn’t it ironic that these physicians, who reject fee controls and the other restrictions imposed by health plans, still accept Medicare?
What is there about Medicare that causes these renegade physicians to still accept the program? Many reasons can be given, but the fact remains that these physicians who are ardently opposed to private health plans still want to participate in our equitable, more efficient, publicly administered program of health care coverage that is universal for a given segment of our society. Obviously, they find some redeeming value in Medicare. If public insurance is good enough for the severest critics of our health care system, shouldn’t it be good enough for all of us?