Rather than regulating concierge care out of existence, Mr. Pasquale suggests that lawmakers tax directly therapeutic care and nonmedical amenities, and use the tax proceeds to help provide access to care for the poor.
Sandra J. Carnahan of the South Texas College of Law in Houston suggested that private insurers consider dropping concierge practices from their networks. In the case of physicians who treat Medicare patients, because taxpayer money is used to pay for the physicians' medical education, “that ought to [dictate] that they have a reasonable patient load … and physicians should not be able to use the system to choose the wealthiest, healthiest patients who can pay the fees.”