After listening to a friend complain that her physician had retired and she was having trouble finding a physician that accepted Medicare, I decided to explore. What I did find was a resource on the Medicare.gov site called "Physician Compare". This is a useful tool and one can search for specialists or general practitioners. I do think one may have to drive to the next town to find the specialist needed that accepts Medicare. Sometimes the drive may be up to an hour. This is similar to health care access a half century ago. I grew up in a small town. If a specialist was needed, one took a two and half hour trip to where a larger medical center was located. That was in the late 1950's and 1960's.
I am hearing about physicians setting up boutique or concierge practices after they leave practices where insurance and/or Medicare is accepted. An individual would pay a set fee and care would be provided through that practice. I have heard $2000-$3000 per year mentioned for these boutique services. Most family physicians do not see their patients in the hospital now. Patients are seen in hospital by physicians termed "hospitalist". The individual would need catastrophic or major medical insurance to cover hospital admissions. This would mean if you have the money you may choose your care.
If you are interested in reading more about the boutique or concierge medical practices, I found an article from late 2013 in the Wall Street Journal by Jen Wieczner that weighs the pros and cons. The link is below.
Wieczner, J. (2013). "Pros and Cons of Concierge Medicine" retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303471004579165470633112630
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