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The Finances of the Practice - and why legal fees are a challenge

Did you know that:
• Blue Shield Covered California cut their reimbursement rates to doctors by 29% in 2018?
The compensation of their President and CEO in 2017 was $4,102,304
Their EVP for Health Care Quality and Affordability made $2,364,511
Blue Shield executive compensation(external link)

• Partnership Insurance (our local Medicaid managed care) generally pays us $12 - $27 per month total for each patient, even if we are seeing them once or twice a month for complicated problems? (Their care is subsidized in the community clinics)

• Running a medical practice is expensive? Some of Full Circle’s Overhead Expenses:
Monthly payroll $16,190
Monthly Electronic Health Record $1150
Insurance (Malpractice, liability, etc) $ 2685/month
Medical supplies and equipment $1400/month
Rent: $2000/month
Telephone: $430/month
etc.

• WE SAVE YOU MONEY ON SUPPLEMENTS. We do not add a retail markup to supplements in the practice. Connie feels it is unethical to recommend things she makes a profit on, so we sell things at cost (and Erin thinks we may lose on this because of an understimate of the percentage to cover staff time involved.)

• Connie takes time to provide advice about nutrition, herbal treatments and other alternatives and thinks this should be a covered service, even though Insurers really only pay enough to cover 5-10 minutes to hand you a prescription and step out?

• In 2018 Connie earned less than minimum wage: It worked out to about $10 per hour

How you can help:
• Come in for a visit rather than asking for free care on the phone or portal. We want to give you a break, but not your insurance company. . . .

• Consider a “tip” if you feel you have gotten special treatment or for care received by phone or on the portal. Consider $1-$30 for your visit

• Advocate for a Single Payer Health System, so that doctors who provide care to low-income people will not have to choose between taking care of their patients and taking care of their own families.

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