Lymie24 said...
MedicalNerd,
I'll reply to ya in one message to keep it simple lol.
Federal income taxes are unlikely to change. Any change in Federal income tax rates have to be approved by the congress, both the house and the senate, and have to be approved by the president. This is unlikely to happen.
LLMDs are doctors. Doctors either work for businesses or own their own businesses. In times of rising costs businesses often raise their prices. Sure, it can be debated how much should they raise? What were the factors that went into their raises? Are businesses taking advantage of the inflation narrative to price gouge? Are the price increases justified? Who's to say what is justified? Under free market capitalism, should the goal be to maximize profits or to provide a good or service at a reasonable price? Who decides what is reasonable?
Point is that these issues are not black and white. They are complex.
I'm not surprised at all that LLMDs are raising prices. If I am a doctor owning my own business then I probably have a goal of roughly how much money I want to make in a given year, and how much I profit after expenses. How much do I want to make to fuel the lifestyle/financial goals I have? If during a period of high inflation my costs go up then naturally I will have to raise prices to match to maintain a similar profit as I was making before. One could argue that this is "good" or "bad" or something in the middle, however, most businesses exist to succeed in making money. That is the point.
My previous, and only other LLMD, is in TN. He charges 350$. My current LLMD, who is well-known and respected, charges 420$. This is in-line with what typical LLMDs worth seeing charge. I have seen LLMDs in the Northeast charge more. This is not the greatest source, but according to this article:
"In 2016, the average cost of visiting a healthcare professional in the U.S. was $265. However, this average depends on the type of medical provider you are seeing and the type of appointment. For example, the average visit to a primary care provider costs $186, whereas a visit to a specialist costs $335."
https://khealth.com/learn/healthcare/how-much-is-a-doctor-visit-without-insurance/
I would consider a LLMD as a specialist. In addition, they are more likely than your average doctor to come under scrutiny by a state's medical board and lose their license. The doctor I see now lost his license to practice in his previous state and went bankrupt. LLMDs take more risks to their career, and thus, their livelihood. I'm sure there are arguments to be made that they could charge less in some cases, but the point is I don't think a typical LLMD office visit is outrageous considering the evidence.
As far as being able to afford the cost.... I don't see that I have a choice. I don't think I have to see a LLMD necessarily, but, if I don't treat I feel as if I am moving towards death. So doing nothing isn't a choice. The hope is that an experienced doctor can lead to significant improvements in health. So far, that hasn't been the case for me. Time will tell.
I certainly agree with not necessarily having to see an llmd but I feel the same as in "I feel I don't have a choice". I feel seeing the llmd is better than me trying to fight this on my own. It's just the $ . Being bankrupt or in debt may be better than dying, but some people have kids and need to keep their shelter etc. Taxes also did get raise especially for us "private contractors and such" I work as an independent contractor and I have another regular job but this years taxes were worse than last year and us private contractors had to pay more % and get less back for our companies so yea I get the whole raising prices and stuff but it's more like "every man for himself" when it comes to lyme, not just $. I think everyone on here can relate to "it's you against the world" when you have lyme.