An 'Alternative' Heath Care System Springs Up in Essex County

At one point in his life, Rick Celano was up against impossible odds — a visit to the doctor to treat his diabetes would mean no food for the day. Celano was diagnosed with diabetes in 2008, two weeks before he was laid off from his job. 

"Not only did I not have insurance, but I didn't have a job," he said. "I didn't have the same income and support system. It was devastating. It was numbing. It was a shock."

Fraught with years of unemployment and limited access to medical treatment, the 46-year-old Belleville resident finally secured part-time employment and discovered an affordable way to receive care —without insurance. 

Symbeo, a direct care family practice in Bloomfield, is one of few membership-based models that are springing up across the country, such as Qliance in Seattle, WA. 

The system allows patients — with or without insurance — to pay a $50 monthly fee for unlimited doctor visits. Patients can also pay $40 a month if they commit to a six-month period. 

After two years of limited medical treatment, Celano said Symbeo was just the medicine he needed. "I needed health care. I'm just a guy that wants to live and I can't afford it," he said. "To be as underemployed as I am and to have Symbeo is just blessing."

Symbeo's co-founder Eddie Cisneros said he began the practice more than a year ago to improve health care opportunities for a growing section of the population that was underemployed and didn't qualify for Medicaid. 

"We thought, let's make primary care affordable, simple. You don't see a nurse, you see a doctor," said Cisneros.  

He said the practice is financed by "carving out the primary care doctor" and working independently from any insurance company.  

"By charging a monthly fee, we don't have the incentive to see five to six patients an hour," he said, adding that patients are guaranteed a 30-minute visit.

The visits, though, do not include hospitalizations, lab work or specialist care, including newborn and obstetrics care. 

Cisnero said that Symbeo tries to do as much as possible but when necessary, recommends patients to specialists that afford discounts. "We've gone out and build partnerships with local specialists," he said. 

Kerry McKean Kelly, a spokesperson for the New Jersey Hospital Association said it was the first time she had heard of a model like Symbeo. "It does attempt to address one of the key challenges in New Jersey today, that is, that uninsured individuals have access to primary care," she said. 

But while models like Symbeo provide an alternative and "outside of the box thinking" that is critical for health care reform, Kelly said that not having health insurance remains a risk.

"Primary care is one thing but if you don't have insurance and you have a worsening health condition or need trauma care, the costs can be out of reach for an individual," she said. 

With three doctors and more than 500 patients and growing, Cisneros said he hopes Symbeo will revolutionize the health care system. 

"Our incentive is service," he said. "What we're doing in the context of the economy is providing people with a safety net for staying healthy and doing it with high quality. In today's tough economy. this has been a great answer for a lot of folks."