Care models · Membership medicine
Direct primary care, and how it pairs with cover
A monthly fee to your doctor, longer appointments and a phone number that works. It is not insurance, and it is not meant to be.
In plain words
What the membership buys
Direct primary care practices charge a monthly membership instead of billing insurance for office visits. In exchange you usually get same-day or next-day appointments, longer consultations, direct messaging with your doctor, and often discounted labs and generic medication.
What it does not buy is hospital cover. A DPC membership beside no insurance is a serious gamble; a DPC membership beside a catastrophic or high-deductible plan is a coherent strategy, and that pairing is the conversation worth having.
- Priced as a pair: the membership plus the plan that covers a hospital admission
- Whether the practice's labs and medication pricing genuinely lower your year
- HSA rules around membership fees, stated carefully rather than confidently
- Referral pathways — who sees you when the problem leaves primary care
What we handle
The questions we work through
Membership terms
What the fee includes, what is extra and how cancellation works.
The plan beside it
High-deductible or catastrophic cover for everything the membership cannot touch.
HSA interaction
Where the tax rules sit, and why we point you at your accountant for the edge cases.
Prescriptions and labs
Practice pricing against your current pharmacy and your drug list.
Questions
What people ask us about this
No. It covers primary care only. Surgery, hospital admissions, imaging and specialist care all sit outside the membership, which is why we only recommend it alongside a plan that covers those.
The treatment of periodic membership fees has shifted over time and depends on how the practice structures its charges. Ask your tax adviser before you assume it qualifies.
Some practices see Medicare patients under a membership, with Medicare covering what falls outside primary care. The paperwork varies practice by practice.
Talk it through with a person
Our help costs you nothing. We are paid by the carrier you choose, and your premium is the same whether you enrol with us or on your own.
- No cost to you
- CRBC™ · MPA-C™
- No pressure, ever
Get a free plan review
A licensed local advisor, usually the same day.
(912) 555-0148Mon – Thu 8:30 am – 6:00 pm