Self-Pay Medicine: A Strategy or Fall Back?
Executive Summary
More concerned about quality-of-life issues than insurers, many consumers will gladly pay out-of-pocket for some products if they relieve chronic conditions that inconvenience or disable them. The success of products such as Lasik vision correction surgery and non-sedating antihistamines and the growing market for alternative medicine suggest that consumers are open to, and in some cases, eager for a wide array of products shunned by traditional care insurers. But marketing directly to consumers is not enough--physicians, insurers, and even hospitals have to be brought into the loop..