The Cost of Chronic Diseases

What value can we place on a less fulfilling life, the loss of our eyesight, the loss of a foot or the ability to use our hands? What if we were no longer able to enjoy life as we once did? What would we pay to turn back time, and make different decisions and choices in our life?

Chronic diseases, many of them avoidable, creep up on us over time. Our body can give us clues along the way if we pay attention. Critically important, is the role your primary care doctor or mid-level provider plays.

When detected early, we can make lifestyle changes and work on breaking long-term habits. Our primary care doctor or mid-level provider can order diagnostic tests and lab work to help identify what may be causing the problems you are experiencing. They may be able to prescribe medications to moderate or lessen the severity of the effects. With some chronic diseases, it is possible with early intervention to reverse course and avoid the disease altogether. That will help improve the quality of your life and SAVE YOU LOTS OF MONEY.

Just THREE (of Many) Examples of The Cost of Developing Chronic Diseases:

Cardiovascular Disease: The total mean direct medical care costs for patients with established cardiovascular disease (CVD) were $18,953 per patient per year.

Diabetes: People with diagnosed diabetes incur average medical expenditures of $16,752 per year, of which about $9,601 is attributed to diabetes. On average, people with diagnosed diabetes have medical expenditures approximately 2.3 times higher than expenditures would be in the absence of diabetes.

• Hospital inpatient care (30% of the total medical cost)
• Prescription medications to treat complications of diabetes (30%)
• Anti-diabetic agents and diabetes supplies (15%)
• Physician office visits (13%)

Depression: An estimated 8.1% of US adults 20 years and older experienced depression in any given 2-week period.

• The average annual health care cost for a person with major depression is $10,836.
• The annual incremental health care cost per depressed employee that also suffers from a chronic condition such as diabetes is $5,000.
• Depressed employees miss 6 to 25 additional days of work per year.
• 9% of employees leave a job because of well-being related concerns.
• 70% of employed informal caregivers had to reduce work hours, find a less demanding job, turn down a promotion or take a leave of absence / retire early.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Chronic diseases are debilitating and expensive. A significant majority of them are either preventable or can be postponed for years IF DETECTED EARLY and ACTED UPON through behavioral changes, dietary improvements, the introduction of more exercise, and medications, if necessary.

In addition to improvements, you may experience in the Quality of Your Life, you will be able to Avoid or Defer significant medical expenses, saving you Thousands of Dollars per Year.

THIS REQUIRES COMMITMENT AND PRIMARY CARE INVESTMENT

Visits to a doctor’s office are rarely something to anticipate. They are drab, dreary, boring places to go to where you must sit and wait until called. It could be anywhere from forty minutes to more than an hour. Often you have a short conversation and leave with a prescription.

WellCraft Health™ is different. Dr. Carol Rupe is different.

Dr. Rupe’s MyPreference™ medical care program is significantly different. It is an investment and requires a commitment from you for improving the quality of your life through better health. One day at a time. Any improvement is good, and we encourage our patients to make modest changes over time, until they become part of your everyday routine.

Isn’t it time to begin investing in yourself, and the quality of the rest of your life?

Medical Economics

Traditional primary care medical Offices have budgeted each ‘practitioner’ to generate between $ 300 and $ 600 per hour to pay operating expenses. A typical primary care medical office has between four and six practitioners, each servicing between 15 and 30 medical visits per day. The average number of medical visits each provider services is just over 20 per day. On average, a single medical visit, including lab work and diagnostics, earns the medical practice MORE than $ 100 per visit. That represents earnings of $ 2,000 to $ 3,000 per hour to keep a typical medical office from shutting down, unless financially subsidized by a hospital system or government grants.

The Cost of YOUR Typical Medical Office Visit - $ 600 to $ 1,200 per Hour

Medical Visits are typically on the schedule for fifteen minutes and physicals are typically scheduled for 30 minutes. BUT! After long delays in scheduling, and long waits in a waiting room, you are finally walked to an exam room. And ... you wait some more (evidently, your time seems to have no value). A nurse comes in and takes your vital signs, followed later by a ‘provider’, typically a Physician’s Assistant (PA) or a Nurse Practitioner (NP). Does a PA or NP have the diagnostic skills base or experience of a practicing physician? No. But you are charged $ 100 (plus) for an average medical visit with a PA or NP, who only give you 5 to 10 minutes of professional time and attention.

Your medical visit actually cost you $ 600 to $ 1,200 per hour !

The Cost of YOUR Health Insurance Medical Visit - over $ 2,100 per Hour

A typically healthy family of three, has employer subsidized health insurance costing them $ 7,200 per year, with a $ 6,000 annual deductible. The deductible must be paid before the health insurance company pays 40%, 60%, or 80% of the remaining medical expenses. But what if you and your family don’t have a major accident or a newly developed expensive health condition? You have an expensive health insurance card and a discounted medical visit price.

How is that possible? You and your family pay $ 7,200 per year in health insurance premiums. If your $ 6,000 annual deductible is not met, you are paying for every medical visit at a negotiated discount rate. If your average, healthy family goes to a medical practice 8 to 12 times per year, assuming an average medical visit with a very generous 20-minute professional engagement, and an average discounted medical visit cost. Your 160 minutes to 240 minutes of professional medical consultation time cost you and your family over $ 2,100 per hour!!!

If you were to get LESS than 20 minutes time per typical medical visit by your ‘provider’, your cost DOUBLES! Think about that. More than $ 4,200 per visit... And typically, dependent upon a PA or NP to help you with deferring or avoiding a number of serious medical conditions like diabetes, congestive heart disease, and more... in five to ten minute medical diagnostic visits.

Health Insurance value comes into play ONLY IF you have a terrible accident or develop an expensive, chronic medical condition requiring hospitalization, surgeries, ongoing specialty care, and medications.

The VALUE of Dr. Carol Rupe and her MyPreference™ medical care program - $ 170/hr or LESS

Let’s take that exact same example, of a healthy family of three - OR an individual with serious chronic medical conditions. WellCraft Health™ is not an insurance company. We do not “cover” anything. What we do provide, is excellent primary medical care, with a 30 plus year family medicine Doctor Carol Rupe. As an expert family physician (recognized as an expert in more than 30 US states), it is to your benefit when you have a need for more serious medical care!

Our medical visits are scheduled for up to 30 minutes and our physical exams are scheduled for up to an hour, so that you can have a personal, real, two-way conversation to discuss your concerns and medical needs. Dr. Carol Rupe personally follows up with your lab work, specialty medical care, hospitalizations, and diagnostics and calls you for discussion on how to best craft health goals for you.

Assuming a family of three has eight medical visits between them for the year, the annual cost of that family’s participation would be $ 170 an hour or LESS.

Dr. Carol Rupe and her MyPreference™ medical care program’s SUPERIOR VALUE comes with detecting developing health conditions that can be moderated or avoided with medications and lifestyle changes. Experience matters! IF and WHEN Life hands us a difficult health situation to address, she will be an advocate for your medical needs, and actively help coordinate any diagnostics, specialty medical care, or hospitalization you require. Dr. Carol Rupe will follow up, review results, and make recommendations with you AS YOUR PARTNER IN HEALTH and provide encouragement for your recovery and improvements. All of this, at no extra charge.

COMPARE having Dr. Carol Rupe as your Personal Family Physician versus Insurance Driven Primary Care.

The enrollment is NOT being held at our new clinic. You MUST Text or Call Carl Rupe today at 704-965-7454 and reserve your place. Our ENROLLMENT Seminars are going to be held Thursday, November 12 at 7pm. Seating will be limited. Reservations are required. Text or Call Now.

How Can MyPreference™ Support Small Business?

What is MyPreference™ small business builder program?

WellCraft Health is an integral part of the community, and by becoming a point of shared contact, every business participating can benefit by sharing special offers with all our medical clients.

What advantages are there for employers?

WellCraft Health is a lower cost health benefit to offer your employees. This lowers your employment taxes. It gives the employer the old-fashioned company doctor, where they can send employees when they claim illness. This will cut down on absenteeism and support the employer's productivity .

Why is it important to have a Personal Physician?

An employer can offer special promotions. If a company wants to increase sales of a particular product line they can offer discounts and specialty coupons to all of the families enrolled in the WellCraft Health MyPreference™ program. Participation costs the business nothing. They simply gain more clients.

The WellCraft Health Mission

What Our Mission Means For Your Care

It is time for a significant change in how we view the provision of medical care. Dr. Carol Rupe would like to encourage you to step awayfrom the systemized production model that emphasizes the goals and objectives of the insurance industry, the government, and major public health organizations, towards a path that emphasizes YOUR health needs and goals. WellCraft Health flips the medical world upside down and places YOU and your family's needs first!

Ask Yourself These Questions:

Is having a highly skilled and experienced physician oversee your medical care a priority to you?

Has something you feel is important been missed?

Dr. Rupe knows how the system works - and it's broken! Imagine yourself as a widget in a medical factory, where physicians, nurse practitioners, and physicians assistants assembly line to so as many people as they can during the course of one day. Next! Next! Next!

One person after another is squeezed in for a few minutes of conversation and out you go with a prescription in hand. Next!

Dr. Rupe would like you to experience what it feels like to be treated as a whole person, using her extensive skill sets, fortified with new technology and "old school" values. Quite simply, Dr. Carol Rupe would like to be your Personal Family Physician.

Your Most Frequently Asked Questions

What is a personal family physician?

A personal family physician is YOUR family physician. Not the government’s physician, nor the insurance company’s physician. Yours. Your physician which takes your needs and interests to craft a custom health plan to address your concerns and issues as they arise. You don't need prior approvals, and you won't be billed for each individual task and wait for "reimburesement".

What makes WellCraft different?

WellCraft Health does not participate in government programs nor health insurance plans. This allows Dr. Carol Rupe to spend the time needed to address all your concerns and make medical decisions with you based on your needs and not the restrictions imposed by the government nor the health insurance industry. If she feels it is in your best interest to have a certain test, she does not need to ask permission and neither do you.

What is the value of having Dr. Carol Rupe as your Personal Family Physician?

Dr. Rupe is a nationally recognized expert on family medicine. She has over 30 years of experience in clinical medicine, hospital medicine, and long-term care medicine. Her specialties are:

Why is it important to have a Personal Physician?

Because in today’s medical environment it is a challenge to even see a physician. Your medical care is typically provided by a Nurse Practitioner or a Physician’s Assistant with minimal physician supervision. It may take multiple visits just to get some basic answers. WellCraft Health was designed to get you in front of the doctor, where she will focus in on your specific needs, understand your history, and make decisions to benefit your health.

How much does it cost?

WellCraft Health does not charge thousands of dollars in premiums, no thousands of dollars in annual deductibles, and we don’t exclude pre-existing conditions. We don’t impose barriers to medical care like obtaining prior authorization. We are not health insurance driven. We are here for you. You can expect a MyPreference ™ Medical Program base individual plan to cost around the same as a single line cell phone monthly bill.