For both regular family medical checkups and procedures, can anyone recommend somewhere else besides PAMF?
https://n2v.paloaltoonline.com/square/print/2015/03/21/alternative-to-palo-alto-medical-foundation
Town Square
Alternative to Palo Alto Medical Foundation?
Original post made by HealthWatcher, Duveneck/St. Francis, on Mar 21, 2015
For both regular family medical checkups and procedures, can anyone recommend somewhere else besides PAMF?
Comments
Posted by palo alto resident
a resident of Crescent Park
on Mar 21, 2015 at 1:32 pm
a resident of Crescent Park
on Mar 21, 2015 at 1:32 pm
This is not helpful - but Stanford is worse!
Posted by Need to pay PAMF MDs
a resident of another community
on Mar 21, 2015 at 3:21 pm
a resident of another community
on Mar 21, 2015 at 3:21 pm
One of the reasons it is so expensive is probably because they need to pay the PAMF MDs. The PAMF MDs are probably the highest paid doctors in the region by far. Every graduating resident in training from Northern California covets those jobs for that reason, but to get the job, you need to be from an elite program, AND you need to have the support of your chief/program director, who often serve as contacts for PAMF. Jobs are rarely ever advertised, and frequently filled internally in this manner.
So if you're confused about your exorbitant bills...sorry! Your doctor GOTS TO GET PAID!!
Posted by Anonymous
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Mar 21, 2015 at 3:26 pm
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Mar 21, 2015 at 3:26 pm
PAMF is part of Sutter Health.
Web Link
Posted by Oh Well
a resident of College Terrace
on Mar 21, 2015 at 4:05 pm
a resident of College Terrace
on Mar 21, 2015 at 4:05 pm
PAMF may be better than much of the competition. But are they THAT much better? There are of course plenty of people in this area who have so much money they don't care about wasting some of it. But PAMF does have a reputation for jacking up prices. They are called out by name in this article, for example: Web Link
Posted by Anon
a resident of Ventura
on Mar 22, 2015 at 9:12 am
a resident of Ventura
on Mar 22, 2015 at 9:12 am
I have been going to PAMF for years. They quality of care that I have received has been excellent and I can't say enough good things about the doctors. My child's pediatrician, I am not sure we could find a better one.
That being said, I agree the prices are way too high. However having been to Stanford PAMF looks cheap! And sadly PAMF doctor's contract with Stanford University for surgeries so get landed with bills from Stanford.
I am often torn between going elsewhere and paying the price for the excellent doctor's we have. We have a very high deductible health insurance and thousands each year gets a little old.
Curious to know as well if anyone has any suggestions.
Posted by JSD
a resident of Palo Verde
on Mar 22, 2015 at 10:52 am
a resident of Palo Verde
on Mar 22, 2015 at 10:52 am
We had to leave PAMF and Menlo Medical for this reason - enjoyed the care we received there but cannot justify the high prices. For primary care, we have recently switched to OneMedical and are quite happy but are still in a bind for specialists and non-routine procedures.
It is IMPOSSIBLE to find out (prior to care) what you will be charged (what the negotiated rate is between the provider and the insurance plan). No other industry is allowed to operate with this kind of intentional and total price-obfuscation. You can usually find out a good estimate of cash-up-front pricing, but then that does not apply to your deductible. Though we have been burned recently on that, too.
Posted by Palo Alto
a resident of Downtown North
on Mar 22, 2015 at 12:00 pm
a resident of Downtown North
on Mar 22, 2015 at 12:00 pm
My son had an ultrasound procedure that took 3 minutes (literally). We have a high deductible plan for our family
(but still pay outrageous monthly premiums). The ultrasound of course was not covered. When I received the bill
for upwards of $600 for the 3 minute ultrasound, I called PAMF and asked about it. I asked how much it would
have cost, if I didn't have health insurance. The answer was $300. Really, the cost is higher with medical insurance,
"yes, that is the contracted rate". Scam.
So one idea I am thinking about, is just paying cash for such procedures. They probably won't allow it. I have
no idea what to do anymore. This is crazy. Don't get sick.
Posted by HealthWatcher
a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis
on Mar 24, 2015 at 11:35 am
a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis
on Mar 24, 2015 at 11:35 am
For those interested, I found that Palo Alto Imagine (400 Channing Ave, 650-323-1343) is 'in-network' for Anthem Blue Cross and significantly cheaper than PAMF for MRIs (40-50% cheaper). It really stinks that PAMF/Sutter Health makes us put 45 minutes' time out of our day to find lower-cost options, but I'm sure their administrators will do some hard time in Purgatory as a result.
Web Link
Posted by HealthWatcher
a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis
on Mar 24, 2015 at 11:35 am
a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis
on Mar 24, 2015 at 11:35 am
Sorry, that was Palo Alto Imaging.
Posted by Patient
a resident of Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Mar 24, 2015 at 4:31 pm
a resident of Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Mar 24, 2015 at 4:31 pm
Thanks for the info HealthWatcher. My last brain MRI with and without contrast at Stanford was over $9,000. I wonder what Palo Alto Imaging charges.
Posted by CresentParkAnon.
a resident of Crescent Park
on Mar 26, 2015 at 12:25 am
a resident of Crescent Park
on Mar 26, 2015 at 12:25 am
It's not just PAMF ... it is the whole system.
A very enlightening and informative book that not enough people have
read is: America's Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Backroom Deals, and the
Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System by Steven Brill
With the current maximize profit system we have in health care we
are just in store for higher prices, longer waits, lower quality service
and care that is more than likely just going to be a rubber stamp to
prescribe drugs that are not even shown to be effective.
Yes, like the author Steven Brill with his life-threatening medical
problem as he wrote this book, sometimes the health-care system
will save your life, and what is that worth ... anything, everything,
and we are getting closer and closer to paying exactly that.
The for-profit model is not a good system to provide medical
care to citizens ... it is a system for monetizing everything so that
more of that stream and go to the military-coprporate-propganda
state that the US must manage alone while all the other developed
countries actually take care of their people with health-care as a
human right.
I am all for the US being the world's policeman, no one else can or
will do it, and it needs done, .... I just do not want to pay for in everything
I buy or do, and constantly be measured and probed for how to get
more out of me.
Posted by Harry
a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis
on Mar 26, 2015 at 2:49 pm
a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis
on Mar 26, 2015 at 2:49 pm
Healthcare was relatively cheap until Obamacare grew legs... At least it was a lot cheaper than it is now!!! And our health will decline as people opt out of preventative care (colonoscopies, etc) because the expense, with our high deductibles, is too great to pay after paying our huge new premiums. I just don't go to the doctor anymore. For anything...
Posted by CresentParkAnon.
a resident of Crescent Park
on Mar 26, 2015 at 3:01 pm
a resident of Crescent Park
on Mar 26, 2015 at 3:01 pm
> Healthcare was relatively cheap until Obamacare grew legs
The rate of increase is what you need to look at, and that is down a little bit.
It is hardly ObamaCare that is driving prices, most of the people newly enrolled
in ObamaCare cannot even afford to go to the doctor, so they are forced to pay
for something that they probably will not benefit from.
The reason ObamaCare did not slow the growth of costs in health care is
that the public option was driven out of it, and that was not Obama's choice.
For a factual history of this issue read America's Bitter Pill: Money, Politics,
Backroom Deals, and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System by Steven
Brill and stop jumping at every crazy accusation that blames Obama for all
that is wrong with the world. He's only responsible for a little of it.
Posted by Mr.Recycle
a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis
on Mar 26, 2015 at 3:19 pm
a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis
on Mar 26, 2015 at 3:19 pm
@CresentParkAnon - rate of increase of healthcare costs may have slowed, but insurance premiums have skyrocketed under ACA - 24% above the predicted rate of increase without ACA.
Web Link
Posted by Mr.Recycle
a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis
on Mar 26, 2015 at 3:19 pm
a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis
on Mar 26, 2015 at 3:19 pm
@CresentParkAnon - rate of increase of healthcare costs may have slowed, but insurance premiums have skyrocketed under ACA - 24% above the predicted rate of increase without ACA.
Web Link
Posted by CrescentParkAnon.
a resident of Crescent Park
on Mar 26, 2015 at 3:52 pm
a resident of Crescent Park
on Mar 26, 2015 at 3:52 pm
Since there is no regulation as to the price of anything in the law,
you can hardly blame ObamaCare for any of that. Guess you'd
never think of blaming the insurance companies for raising their
prices?
And, you can also not trust any of the prices you are quoting or
think you know, because the hospitals all have their own schedules
for prices, but the only ones who pay those prices are the ones who
have no clout to negotiate, such as the uninsured.
This game is fixed, and the only way to get costs down is either
to regulate or just to jettison all those who cannot afford the inflated
costs to have no insurance and die. Put the pressure on their
families, relatives and communities.
