Opinion
The health care system we almost had (and still can)
What if we can return to these market-based systems (some of which are re-emerging on their own) and save the nation from an unnecessary debt crisis?
Opinion
Federal change could transform state care
Explicitly allowing households to tap health-savings accounts to pay membership fees will only expand the market for direct primary care.
Opinion
Fixing primary care in NC should be among health care priorities
Primary care is so vital partly because it prevents unnecessarily usage of more-expensive health services — like ERs, ambulances, hospitals, and specialists.
Opinion
Cutting out the medical middle man
A trend, known as "direct primary care," is currently experiencing a boom, as are the dental-practice membership plans. According to Business Wire, between 2017 and 2021, direct primary care experienced 241% growth in memberships and 159% growth in clinicians setting up practices. This suggests not only do doctors love not having to hire people to haggle with CMS or insurance companies over every service they perform, but patients also love not having to worry about co-pays and confusing bill statements.
News
General Assembly closer to giving direct primary care docs legal protection
Doctors who fled the health insurance system to offer transparent prices and more personal care got a boost from state lawmakers. The Senate passed House Bill 471, 46-0, Wednesday, June 3, shielding direct primary care doctors — doctors who accept monthly cash payments rather than insurance — from Department of Insurance regulation. The bill returns...
News
Senate committee looks to extend health care flexibility after COVID-19 emergency ends
A Senate committee passed protection for direct primary care providers and discussed regulatory reforms to prepare hospitals and other health care workers for the second wave of the coronavirus. The Senate Health Care Committee on Thursday, May 28, unanimously passed House Bill 471 to help direct primary care doctors — doctors who take monthly cash...
News
BCBSNC partners with companies to open clinics for Medicaid patients
North Carolina’s largest insurer has brokered an agreement with three national health care companies to open intensive primary care clinics this year in areas lacking services. “When patients with multiple health issues have access to intensive primary care, we know they’re more satisfied, and we know it improves their overall quality of care, and reduces...
Opinion
Health Freedom Despite Obamacare
The following editorial appeared in the April 2016 print edition of Carolina Journal: As Dan Way reported recently at CarolinaJournal.com, any celebrations for the sixth anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, were muted. With health care spending growing at its fastest rate since 2007, Obamacare has made health insurance anything but affordable. And...
News
Concierge Practice Gives Doc More Time With Patients
Dr. Octavian Belcea thinks of himself as a medical throwback, the friendly family doctor who practices old-fashioned, comprehensive treatment of his patients and their families. He’s doing so using advanced medical technology in the state’s first-of-its-kind hybrid “concierge” Wakefield Family Medicine practice in north Raleigh. Just over a month ago Belcea joined Concierge Choice Physicians,...
News
Direct Primary Care Could Cover State Workers, Medicaid
RALEIGH — A growing health care alternative in North Carolina that shuns insurance for services provided by physicians at a set price could be incorporated into the state’s insurance program for government employees, along with Medicaid — the federal/state health insurance plan for the poor, aged, and disabled.
