The Most Expensive Ways the Rich Pay To Stay Healthy
If ever there was a hot-button topic in America, it’s healthcare. For one of the richest countries in the world, many would agree that America’s healthcare system needs some work.
It’s not that the quality of healthcare is poor. On the contrary, America offers some of the finest medical personnel and equipment in the world. The problem is the cost and access to this top-shelf medical care for the average American.
Read More: I’m a Financial Advisor — My Wealthiest Clients All Do These 3 Things
Find Out: 4 Subtly Genius Moves All Wealthy People Make With Their Money
As is often the case, the wealthy don’t have a problem with accessing good care, as they have the means to do so. However, there’s a whole way that the rich stay healthy that many Americans aren’t even aware of.
Known as “concierge healthcare,” the practice began in 1996. But, what exactly is concierge healthcare, and what’s all the fuss around it? Read on to learn more.
Also find out how much medical debt the average person has in each state.
What Is Concierge Healthcare?
Concierge healthcare has been described as a patient-funded approach to healthcare. It is prohibitively expensive for most patients, as it provides preferential access to top-tier doctors, treatments, and services. Essentially, concierge healthcare allows those who can afford it the first access to the best providers and services, and in many cases, it runs even deeper than that. [2]
Try This: 4 Secrets of the Truly Wealthy, According To Dave Ramsey
Examples of Concierge Healthcare Services
A basic form of concierge healthcare — and the type that is most accessible to the masses — involves paying specific providers thousands of dollars per year for programs and services tailored specifically to their healthcare and wellness needs. But the ultra-rich type of concierge healthcare involves much more extensive services.
For example, imagine you’re wealthy enough to own a private island. One of the biggest negatives about that purchase might be the lack of sufficient, available-at-an-instant healthcare. But if you’re rich enough to buy your own island, you can also likely afford to build your own urgent and ongoing care facility, with dedicated doctors, nurses and staff available to cover your each and every medical need without ever having to set foot off the island.
“After the age of 24, you’re a depreciating asset health-wise,” Dr. Jordan Shlain, founder of Private Medical, told CNBC.
The goal of concierge healthcare is to slow this deterioration for as long as possible. Or, as Shlain puts it, his company aims to “enable you to live with your physical and mental faculties intact for as long as possible with the fewest high-quality interactions with the health-care system as possible.”
What’s the Cost?
You can expect top-tier concierge healthcare to cost tens of thousands of dollars per year. While the “basic” form of specialized healthcare described above may only cost a few thousand, the sky is really the limit when it comes to ultra-personalized, dedicated healthcare.
The private island example above may run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, for example. But for “garden variety” concierge healthcare, which may provide 24/7 on-call and in-home service, tests and procedures, the average rate is roughly $40,000 to $60,000 per year.
Benefits to General Healthcare
While concierge healthcare seems like a benefit that the average American will never benefit from, that’s not entirely true. Wealthy individuals and families paying these vast sums to elite-level healthcare providers actually help fund innovation and cutting-edge procedures that eventually become more affordable to the masses, according to Forbes.
They may also help improve general medical services because concierge healthcare, by definition, conforms to the actual needs that people have. This can help teach the medical services community what customers desire when it comes to their care.
The Bottom Line
Concierge healthcare, at least for now, is the sole domain of the wealthy. And it’s certainly understandable that those who can afford it would want this level of direct, top-tier healthcare. After all, who wouldn’t want access to the best doctors, equipment and treatment available?
Unfortunately for now, unless you can spare a few tens of thousands of dollars per year, you won’t be able to access these expensive ways that the rich manage to stay healthy.
More From GOBankingRates
These Are the 5 Biggest Discrepancies With How People Bank by Generation
3 Things You Must Do When Your Savings Reach $50,000
9 Things You Must Do To Grow Your Wealth in 2025
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: The Most Expensive Ways the Rich Pay To Stay Healthy
