Popular Viral Article Puts the Problems of the United States' Current Health Insurance System into Clear Perspective
SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / December 13, 2017 / San Francisco-based startup Hint Health, a pioneer in workflow automation for Direct Primary Care (DPC) physicians, has put the current problems of the U.S. health insurance into clear and amusing perspective with a popular blog post which has gone viral entitled, "What if Car Insurance Was Like Health Insurance?" It's the story of how one simple incident - a blown tire leading to a crumpled bumper - turns into a morass of expenses and an absurd web of "specialists" and mandatory diagnostic testing. The story begins with the simple phrase that anyone frustrated with their health insurance knows all too well: "A letter from my insurance company, Blue Wheeled, brings terrible news. They rejected my claim, saying I didn't receive pre-authorization for a long road-trip."
One of the oft-discussed aspects of health care is how a focus should really be on preventative maintenance, but often the insurance companies make simple checkups into obstacles. As the piece explains in automobile terms, "All the while I was blaming myself for the tire blowout: I knew it was going to happen and had wanted new tires at my last checkup 6 months ago, but had kept driving on the old ones because my insurance plan only covers new tires every 60,000 miles. Their exclusion forced me into a tough and emotionally taxing decision where I'd chosen inexpensive danger over high-priced safety."
One of the most promising new models for healthcare which avoids the labyrinthine system of insurance is the Direct Primary Care model which is typically structured as a monthly subscription, with patients paying their doctor anywhere from $25 to $100 per month to cover all routine visits, same-day or next-day appointments and even medications and lab tests purchased at wholesale price. The DPC model has wide support from both individual doctors and physician groups. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, John Meigs, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians said, "You're not on the hamster wheel of getting paid based on the volume you do. Patient satisfaction goes up. Physician satisfaction goes up. Quality goes up and costs go down because you don't have to prove it to Uncle Sam or an insurance company."
A rapidly-growing number of states are opening up to the DPC model, as well as Medicare Direct Care in an effort to keep costs down. Hint Health recently released its 2017 Direct Primary Care Trends Report which provides a comprehensive look at all DPC aspects of expansion, demographics and economic impacts culled from its ground-level work with DPC physicians.
About Hint Health
Founded with an exclusive focus on the direct primary care movement, Hint has been working with trailblazing physicians to automate their administration workflows since 2013, making it easy to operate and scale-up this new practice model while efficiently managing overhead costs.
CONTACT:
Paul Lacey
(415) 854-6366 x019
paul@hint.com
SOURCE: Hint Health
