Are Cash-Only Doctors the Way of the Future?

$13,000 out-of-pocket for an obstetrician? Yikes!

Orlene Paxson, 33, a stay-at-home mom on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, was unable to find an obstetrician she liked who would accept her insurance. Many were not accepting new patients, and one highly recommended doctor did not return her call for five days and did not want to see her until 12 weeks into the pregnancy. It was Mrs. Paxson’s first pregnancy and she did not want to wait, so even though her policy does not cover any out-of-network services, she and her husband chose a doctor who doesn’t take insurance and paid the entire $13,000 fee themselves.

Once their daughter was born 20 months ago, Mrs. Paxson needed a pediatrician but could not find one who was in her plan, accepting new patients and within walking distance. So she again chose an out-of-network doctor.

“We stayed with her for a year and a half because we loved her,” Mrs. Paxson said. At her first scheduled visit after the baby was born, the doctor “talked to me for almost three hours. She knew it was our first baby.”

But three months ago, Mrs. Paxson switched to an in-network pediatrician, largely because of the cost of the vaccines. “They didn’t cover a dime of it,” Mrs. Paxson said of her insurance, adding that she was not complaining. “I made informed decisions.”

When Doctors Stop Taking Insurance

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