According to this report by the Commonwealth Fund, out-of-pocket medical expenses are on the rise.

Regardless of where you stand on public versus private health care, rising out-of-pocket expenses are a business blessing for many CAM practitioners, who are more likely to operate outside the realm of insurance and subsidized health care.

Given a choice of “free” or “fee”, many people will choose free, regardless of the effectiveness of the practitioner or protocol. When are no longer given the choice, however, they become more selective. They demand better products and services, and begin to spend their money where they get the most value.

What does this mean to your practice? It means, more than ever, that your ability to provide value will be recognized and rewarded. Protocols and modalities that get the job done will rise naturally toward the top of the pile.

A user-pay system drives people to value. Despite the social issues of out-of-pocket medical costs, there are tremendous benefits for CAM practitioners who have operated outside system coverage all along.