• Font Size    

WJZ.COM Editor's Picks

2009 Celebrity Deaths
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Practice Reverses Plans For Retainer-Style Care

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +
Dec 23, 2008 1:25 pm US/Eastern

Practice Reverses Plans For Retainer-Style Care

COLUMBIA, Md. (AP) ― A Howard County medical office has reversed plans to stop accepting insurance and move to a retainer-style practice, also known as concierge medicine.

In October, the Charter Internal Medicine in Columbia announced plans to cut the number of patients and stop accepting private insurance and Medicare, moving to a model where patients would pay $2,000 a year for care.

Some officials had expressed concern that the move by the primary care medical office with 9,000 patients would leave thousands without a doctor. On Friday, the Maryland Insurance Administration held a hearing on whether such operations should be considered insurance carriers.

In a letter posted on its Web site, Charter says it will not make the change until the state government makes it clear whether it would be subject to additional regulation.

(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

WJZ.COM's Most Popular Slideshows

© MMIX, CBS Corporation. All Rights Reserved.