While the rest of the country awaits the Supreme Court's decision on the Affordable Care Act and the future of health care costs, the residents of Rushville, Ill., are less worried about the cost of a visit to the doctor.
Russell Dohner, the town's doctor since 1955, charges his patients just $5 -- not for a co-pay but for the entire cost of a physician's visit, according to KSDK News. The low price isn't the only thing at Dohner's office that's remained constant for decades. The office hasn't been remodeled, nurses haven't been replaced and staff members haven't ditched their old-school method of writing medical records on index cards in favor of more modern technology.
Considered a local hero, the 87-year-old Dohner keeps his clinic open seven days a week. In 57 years of practicing medicine, he's never taken a vacation, KSDK News reports.
The $5 physician visit charge has been in place since the 1970s. Before that, he charged $2 per visit.
The Illinois doctor, a graduate of Northwestern University Medical School, is offering a huge service to his town in the current economic climate. Medical costs, which rose 6 percent nationwide in the past year, are taking a heavy toll on American households. A family of four with an employment-based insurance plan can expect to pay $20,000 -- or about 40 percent of median household income -- on medical expenses this year.
Across the country, the financial burden of rising medical costs has many Americans scaling back on physician visits and medications. More than 80 percent of the uninsured reportedly skimp on necessary health care.
But thanks to Dr. Dohner, the uninsured residents of Rushville have a place to get much-needed medical treatment.