Is 'concierge' care an ethical alternative? (Pro & Con).

YES

Boutique medical practices are spreading across the nation and generating a chorus of moral outrage.

In boutique or "concierge" practice, patients pay a yearly fee in return for services superior to those offered by governmentsponsored health care or private plans.

In my view, boutique medicine is not immoral, but the opposition to it is.

The entrepreneurial doctors opening these practices are restoring an element of freedom to American medicine. They have found ways to offer same-day appointments and 24-hour cell-phone access, make house calls, and accompany patients on visits with specialists. They are producing services no longer available under government-regulated health care. They are restoring the ability to practice medicine in the way that many doctors think it should be practiced. Properly and morally, they expect to reap the rewards.

Patients, disgruntled by the rationing of medical services necessitated by government price controls, are eager for the freedom to once again decide how much they will spend on health care and what services they will purchase.

For both doctor and patient, it is a winning situation-as is any voluntary trade.