So I finally am getting a required physical for my upcoming cataract surgery, and several of the GP’s and Internists I called want $500 or more, cash, plus insurance to schedule an appointment.

Has anyone else come across these additional payment requirements from MD’s?

No. But I would definitely be looking for another doctor.

Why would you have to gt a physical for cataract surgery? I never heard of such a thing.

You bet you ass on that one, I would also be checking to see if this is legal in your area.

It’s a bloody stoopid requirement from my eye surgeon. I did find another MD who will give me a physical for just the insurance costs.

I keep hearing that there are more MD’s charging access fees. Some are as high as 10K per year. I hope this doesn’t catch on.

It is crazy that it's becoming this way.

I hear about other people struggling to get a chance to speak to a doctor or make an appointment. That it might take weeks or months to get an appointment.

Fortunately, we have a few doctors in our circle of friends that have become a phenomenal resource. It shouldn't be this way, but it is.

I've never heard of such a thing.

I've got a sour taste in my mouth for doctors right now anyway.

Have never had this happen or heard of it.

We have the dental group in our small town doing the same thing in essence. Pay $65.00 fee and get "regular rates". It's a 120 mile round trip to the bigger city, so they know they can get away with it.

It is a way for doctors/dentists to get around fee caps set by insurance companies.

My in-laws live in the communist state of Maryland. When they go to a doctor, they have to pay up front a fee for a year of service, for treatment. This is absolutely crazy. [bleep] those people.

Found a different dentist after this Covid sh*t decided I had to join their club @ 50 bucks a month plus get a 1500 full teeth cleaning before they would fix a cavity. Fugg em. 2100 bucks + 300 to fix 1 cavity.

Never heard of such a thing, access fees for doctors. I was just at dentist, no extra fee. Have a physical in a week, and am not aware of extra fees.
I thought Obama care was supposed to fix these kinds of issues.

Concierge medicine.

It's what happens when you expect great care but insurance won't pay for it.

Docs say, pay me cash, I'll offer you a suite of services and everyone wins.

I had two about two years apart. Never heard of such a thing/

Where are you at Old Ornery?

I am having that surgery done in a month. Thank god I just have to have my doctor sign a sheet and I’m good to go.

Would any of the rest of us allow a third party to pay us a fraction of what our work is worth just because they say so? Take a close look at the "EOB" your insurance company sends you after a medical procedure to see what the doc bills, and what he/she actually gets paid. When I owned a body shop, I stopped taking jobs from certain insurance companies because of the screwing I kept getting from their "adjusters". Some docs are in the same boat, including the primary care physician I've had for 30+ years. He's almost ready to hang up his spurs and quit riding the insurance bronco, and he's one of the best docs I've ever had!

We have some caregivers that don't accept the insurance payments.
You pay a deductible, they collect insurance, then bill you the rest.
Ripoff artists.


A friend had back issues and went to two younger ladies in a chiropractor practice. $40 copay/bill insurance/billed him $20 or 30 more.

"Damn, the guy I see is walk in, $25 cash before you leave!"

Second generation in the business, and both generations have
done well over the years.
Nice modest office, wife/secretary.
Lower expenses let him keep more money.
Most docs dealing with insurance have to keep people on
payroll just to deal with it. At some point, eliminating insurance and
it's hassels is cheaper than having it.

What Hotrod said is what that phenomenon is all about. In a hospital-run system, it’s just greed by the board/exec admin, as their revenues are padded a few different ways. But for a free-standing, non- hospital affiliate primary care or internal medicine office, lab/ekg/cxr may or may not be onsite, doing an hour-long physical in a complex older gentleman, off the street unknown guy to the practice, plus lab interpretations and surgeon paperwork and handholding, plus whatever “oh by the way i have chest pain today” surprises that get sprung, it’s a loss leader for their business. For the same time/effort on the schedule, one could see four or five patients each reimbursing about the same, or more, as that one physical.

I.e. insurers do not want to pay for physicals, guy wants a physical, the cost gets passed to the guy consuming the service his insurer won’t cover, doctor gets the blame. Nice racket to be an insurer, eh?