In this episode of the Practice Profit System, Matt Gillogly draws a stark analogy between the relationship of pimps and sex workers and that of insurance companies and physicians. He recounts a story from a former con‑man friend, John, to illustrate how pimps control money, provide just enough support to keep sex workers dependent, and collect payment before the service is rendered. Gillogly argues that insurers operate the same way: they collect premiums up‑front, pay doctors minimal fees, and control the financial and operational aspects of medical practice, creating an abusive, dependent dynamic. He expands the analogy to abusive personal relationships, explaining why victims often stay despite better alternatives. Gillogly cites numerous (unnamed) case studies of doctors who have left the insurance model, retained their patients, and regained energy and purpose. He urges physicians to consider alternative practice models, seek mentorship, and use the free resources offered by Mavericks—including videos, podcasts, books, and trainings—to transition away from insurance dependence. The episode ends with a call to action to create options rather than remain tied to the “pimp” of insurance.
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Hey, today on the Practice Profit System, we're going to discuss insurance companies, pimps, sex workers, and doctors, and what they all have in common. You'll be surprised, so join us. Okay, let's go ahead and start talking about this. What in the world do insurance companies and pimps, sex workers and doctors, Have in common? Well, they all pretty much have the same relationship. But before I go any further, let me give you a little bit of context. So one of my longtime friends and mentors basically was a con man in Vegas. His name is John. And John, when he was 18 years old, ran away from home, moved to Las Vegas, and started working for this guy who made a living selling things that fell out the back of trucks. And basically finding marks in casinos to clean their bank accounts in poker games. Yep, he was con man. Now he has gone straight, right? Actually a brilliant, brilliant sales guy, but long, long time friend of mine. And we were traveling together one day and he was telling me about how the whole pimps and prostitutes business model works. Okay, so John always had like these really great stories. And so we're sitting down having a cup of coffee or something like that, and he just starts talking. He would just start talking about the most random crap in the world, right? And so he goes, hey Matt, you know, you know, you know what, you know what, you know what? He had this kind of like manic way that he talked. You know, you know, you know, you know what, you know what, you know what, you know how the whole, the whole prostitute and pimp relationship works? And I'm like, no, John, but I got a feeling I'm about ready to find out. He goes, Here's what's really interesting. I won't do it like his mannequins. So he begins to tell me, what is the relationship that exists between the pimp and the prostitute? Well, here's what's really interesting. So let's say the trick is $100. Well, you pay the john or pay the pimp, right? And then you go and you have the sex, right? You have the sex act, okay? And then you're done, right? So the first thing that happens is that you always pay for the money. Prior to the sex act, okay? Or if you like, you're paying the prostitute directly. The pimp is watching, and he knows how much it is, and he gathers the money right afterwards. So you always have to pay for before the service is delivered, okay? Sounds like the insurance companies, right? Insurance companies and patients. Patients are paying for the service before it's delivered, okay? Now, here's what else is really, really different, and this is why all of this is related. You ready? The prostitute doesn't make any money. How it works in the pimp-prostitute relationship is that the pimp might pay her like a little bit of money, like maybe $5 out of $100. But the reason why he doesn't pay her is that she can't leave. Okay? So what the pimp does is he pays for, you know, if she needs clothes, he buys her clothes. If she needs to eat, he buys her food. If she needs to go to the doctor, he pays for the medical. He doesn't give her a car. He doesn't, but he doesn't give her any significant amount of money. And he controls all the money and he doles out the money as he sees fit. Okay. So this is why the prostitute or sex worker, it's so hard for them to leave working for the pimp because they're fully 100% emboldened To the pimp, pimp controls the money. The pimp controls her healthcare. The pimp controls her food. The pimp controls everything, and the pimp gives them just barely enough to survive. Does this sound at all familiar between like the relationship that exists between doctors and insurance companies? Okay, you see the pimp prostitute relationship is designed so that one has control over the other. And the other is subservient and fully dependent on the one who controls the money. This creates in the prostitute. Now, if you've ever done, and I have, I've done mission. I wouldn't call it mission work, but outreach and stuff like that through our church. You know, we would do mission stuff, and we would actually, in some cases, we would go work at homes for women who were getting out of that industry. Okay. So they were in another city and we take them and they come here and they come to Charlotte or whatever. Right. And so when you would have these conversations, now you couldn't talk to 'em about what they did or anything like that. It was purely like you had to be vetted. So like, it wasn't like some kind of creepy thing, but you would, as you would go, you would get these relationships. You would form these kind of, I wouldn't say relationships, friendships. You would get to know people and they would start to share their stories a little bit. And what, you know, they, so now they have, Free housing, free clothing, getting an education, getting back on their feet. Some of them left with their kids, right? They've got all the support network they could possibly need, and they still wanted to go back to— many times they wanted to go back to the pimp. The reason why they wanted to go back to the pimp was because the safety and the security of— they knew, even though they knew the relationship was bad, they knew the relationship was bad, they knew it wasn't good for them, they knew it wasn't It wasn't healthy. They knew they weren't getting paid, right? They knew that they were in total and complete and utter dependence upon the pimp, and yet they still wanted to go back to them. Even though they had freedom now, they still wanted to go back to them. Now, not all of them, but a large percentage of them still wanted to go back to them. Okay, now why, why is it that you get them out of the city You, you give them clothes, you give them female hygiene items, right? You know, like, they can take a bath, they can shower, they've got, you know, they're getting classes and computer classes, you're helping them get clothing for them to be able to go get an interview in a professional office working. What? And yet they still want to go back. It's because they like— people like not just the prostitutes. People like They prefer the double that they do know versus the new opportunity that they don't. Okay? People would rather stay in abusive relationship. We would do work, by the way, also like in like abusive, like wives and girlfriends that have been abused, right? Women that have been abused, and they would have to leave multiple times before they could actually break away from the abusive husband or the abusive boyfriend because they believed this lie. That the abusive husband had changed, right? Okay, so let's look at let's look at that model. So that model is beats her badly, breaks her jaw, right? Whatever. Bloodies her up, black eye, bloody nose, whatever. Cops come, paramedics come. She's in the hospital. Do you want to press charges? And she believes he's going to get better. And he says, "I'm going to get better. I'm going to treat you better." And all of a sudden. The flowers come and the candies come and they have a nice date. And then all of a sudden, month later, 2 months later, he has a couple of too many drinks or gets too high or whatever. He has a bad day and bam, he's right back to it. Okay? See, people believe that the bad relationship is gonna change because they want it desperately to work. They want desperately for the bad relationship to work. This sounds exactly like the relationship that exists between insurance companies and doctors. You see, in this story, the insurance company is the pimp. The insurance company is the abusive husband. And the doctor in this story is the sex worker/prostitute or the abused spouse. See, you know Deep down in your heart of hearts, there is no future in insurance. If you've been a doctor for at least 10 years, you know the writing is on the wall. You know that insurance rates are going up. You know that your reimbursement rates continue to go down. Even if you have something that you're reimbursed well for now, you know it's just a matter of time before they do a clawback, they do an audit, they take some money from you, and they lower the reimbursement rate. You know it's just a matter of time. You know the pattern of the relationship, and yet you choose to stay. And you stay, you're no different, by the way, than the abused wife who decides to stay in the abusive relationship because she says, well, I don't wanna uproot my kids from my school. Okay? And in your case, uprooting your kids from school is, well, I don't wanna abandon my patients. And there's just not a shred of truth to that. I I can tell you case study after case study after case study after case study of doctors who believed exactly the same thing, who made the change, and their patients haven't left them, and they're still serving their community, and they're doing a better job of serving their community, and they have more energy and more time, and they have more passion for medicine, and the list goes on and on. But yet the relationship that exists— insurance companies are pimps, and they're not going to get any better. Insurance companies are pimps, and if you're from an insurance company and you hear this, you should know you are a pimp. You are collecting money before the before the job is done. You pay a pittance to the people who deliver the service, right? And all the while, you're driving around in big old new fancy cars, wearing the latest suits, and you're living up the high life. While the people that are performing the work, the people that are doing it, the people that are taking care of your customers, everything. You pay them a pittance. Yeah, I said that because that's exactly what you are. And so to the doctors, I'm the one, our team is the one, and our doctors, we want to get you out. I know it's scary. I know it's totally and completely scary. I know it's so scary that you would rather stay in that abusive relationship with the insurance company. than to even contemplate going out on your own. And if you've tried to go out on your own, or if you've tried to add cash services, maybe it hasn't worked. And that's okay. It's perfectly okay because sometimes you just haven't had the right mentor or you haven't, it hasn't been the right time, or for whatever reason, there's something else that happened. There's a variety of things, but I'm wanting here to tell you, You can do it. You can go again. You can give it a try again. You just need the right mentor. You just need the right guide. And here at Mavericks, we hope that you— we are your guide, but we'll talk more about that later. So don't lose sight of the fact of what this relationship is. I'll leave you with this. This relationship is nothing more than a pimp-prostitute relationship. Maybe the only difference is, is the insurance executives aren't walking around with a cane. Okay, so that's our— that's my wisdom for you today. Get out. Get out of insurance, or at least give yourself some options. Create options. You don't have to go cold turkey. You don't have to leave today. Create options. Get one of our free resources. We got plenty of videos, plenty of stuff on the podcast, free book, free trainings, all kinds of great stuff. Take advantage of it. Because there's no reason for you to be tied to the abusive pimp. That's it, everybody. I'm Matt Gillogly. This is the Practice Profit System. Like it, subscribe, share with your friends. Catch you on the next side. Bye.
