"Wealthy, upper-class citizens were easily able to summon a physician to make house call for their medical needs."
Founded for the Poor, Mass General Looks to the Wealthy. (The New York Times, 2/12/2016)
Mass General jumps on the inequality in health care bandwagon. For $6,000 a year (and whatever their insurance pays), patients in its new Concierge Medicine Practice will get round-the-clock access to their doctors (initially, there will be three in the practice), as well as personalized nutritional, exercise and wellness counseling.
The idea of wealthy people paying doctors a retainer for exclusive service is not new.This article was also printed in the "Wealth" section of the 2/14/2016 print edition of the Times.
Related reading:
CDC Health Disparities & Inequalities Report (CHDIR, 2013)
From the report's news release.
“It is clear that more needs to be done to address the gaps and to better assist Americans disproportionately impacted by the burden of poor health,” said Chesley Richards, M.D., M.P.H., director of CDC’s Office of Public Health Scientific Services, which produced the report. “We hope that this report will lead to interventions that will allow all Americans, particularly those most harmed by health inequalities, to live healthier and more productive lives.”
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