Two Tier Health Care Trend In North Carolina Triangle Area

Doctors Charge Initiation Fees For Service:
"Over the last few weeks, Dr. Brooks Wilkins' patients have been running him ragged, trying to get in to see him one last time.
Wilkins is not retiring. He's downsizing - and going upscale. Starting Tuesday, Wilkins will treat only patients who pay an annual fee of $1,500 to remain in his new MDVIP practice."

Welcome to European Style Health Care, and the term  Two Tier Health Care.

This is the defacto system in England and other European countries. They either have, or are moving toward, dual medical care systems, one for the poor and middle class (socialized)  and one for the rich (capitalism).

This story caught my interest for two reasons:
The first was that it is directly related to my My Nov. 20th blog about an article published in The Arizona Republic reporting that The Mayo Clinic was refusing to accept Medicare payments. They instituted a plan that is quite similar to the MDVIP mentioned in the above article.
The second reason was that about six months ago a friend in New York was recommended to a local doctor who was charging an annual fee of $2,000, and a predetermined number of required visits just to become a patient. Both my friend and I thought it was a crazy idea, but now I see it is becoming a trend in America medicine.

At this point I would normally advise you to write or email your elected officials to express your outrage at the disastrous effects the proposed Health Care Reform Bill  will  is already having on medical care in this country. But the Gang Of 535 has been ignoring and demonizing their constituents to such a degree lately, that sadly  they wont listen to you, so why bother.