1) State Policy Update - Remember we already have 14 states that have passed DPC Legislation, and 10/14 are helpful. (For details about any below see the states pages.)
1) West Virginia 2006 (Bad law - makes DPC more difficult)
2) Washington 2007
3) Oregon 2011 (Bad law - makes DPC more difficult)
4) Utah 2012
5) Arizona 2014 (Irrelevant law - offers no true "not insurance" protection)
6) Louisiana 2014
7) Michigan Jan 10, 2015
8) Arkansas Feb 19, 2015 (Bad law - vague definitions focused on "concierge")
9) Mississippi Mar 18, 2015
10) Idaho Apr 9, 2015
11) Oklahoma Apr 21, 2015
12) Kansas May 7, 2015
13) Texas May 28, 2015
14) Missouri July 2, 2015
Legislation has been proffered in Wyoming, Nebraska, and Virginia. Prior Florida legislation that nearly passed may be reintroduced. Discussions about potential DPC legislation are also taking place in Massachusetts, and North Carolina. If you are aware of any states that I am missing please let me know.
2) Another Ignorant Commentary About DPC
This time it comes from an expected opponent with an obvious bias. Since passing their legislation earlier this year many legislators in Michigan have continued to promote the benefits of DPC. Well, Mr. Rick Murdock, the Executive Director of the Michigan Association of Health Plans wants everyone to pipe down. In this letter Mr. Murdock calls DPC a "bad public policy idea" resembling "swiss cheese" with many "holes." His arguments are based largely out of his own misunderstanding and/or attempts at deception - after all he does work for a "nonprofit" organization serving insurance companies that stand to lose a lot of money as the DPC movement continues to empower more patients.
- He seems annoyed that the comprehensive primary care promised by DPC practices does not also have the ability to cover all emergency situations and guarantee that patients will never need to enter the hospital. (Well - we are NOT selling insurance - after all.)
- He confounds Medicaid ideas in an absurd manner and insinuates that DPC worsens these problems.
- He then argues that without the insurance company in place to (deny) review claims, no one will be able to detect fraud. Why don't we rely on the patient? The same patient that has now been empowered through price transparency to police his own care. As Josh Umbehr would say "he who holds the purse strings holds the power."
3) Upcoming DPC Events
Things typically quiet down during the holidays, but I will be speaking at two DPC winter conferences: (See the events tab for direct links)
Jan 29, 2016 AAPS - Thrive, Not Just Survive XXIII - Orlando, FL
Feb 26-27, 2016 AAPP - Spring Summit on Private Medicine - San Diego, CA
If you will be attending either event and want to catch up in person, just drop me a note (phil@dpcfrontier.com) and we can plan a time to chat.
4) Washington Insurance Commissioner's 2015 Report
When Washington passed DPC legislation in 2007 the Insurance Commissioner fought against it, and one of his "wins" in the legislative debate resulted in a requirement that practices regularly submit data to the insurance commissioner. The commissioner was excited that he would get to tally the complaints and failures of DPC practices... or so he thought. Year after year the report simply highlights how well DPC is doing in the state, and the commissioner's office has to reluctantly gather the data and file the report each year. So what are this year's highlights?
"Overall patient participation increased from 8,658 participants in 2014 to 11,504 in 2015; this is a 32 percent increase, a total of 2,846 patients."
"Complaints received: The OIC did not receive formal or informal complaints regarding direct patient practices in the past year."
"At this time, the highest monthly fee is $909 per month at MD² Bellevue; the lowest is $25 per
month at Roth Medical Clinic in Spokane."
I find it fun to point out that the skeptical Office of the Insurance Commissioner has zero patient complaints to report after eight years of DPC in the state!
Phil Eskew