I knew there were providers offering medical health care services for cash at a discount because it removed all the middlemen. It was you, the doctor, and the service. What I did not know, until recently, was that there is something called Direct Primary Care. Same idea, easy-to-understand name, but it can operate like a subscription service.
Direct Primary Care, or DPC, is a new way of providing primary care that’s already helped a quarter million people stay healthier and spend less on healthcare. Patients at DPC practices often receive ongoing primary care from their doctor with zero copays, convenient online scheduling options, near-wholesale prices on medications and blood tests, and even their doctor’s personal cell number. It’s like having a doctor in the family.
So how is this possible? Easy: direct primary care practices cut out middlemen like insurance companies, freeing themselves to provide great care at fair prices. Unlike traditional third party practices that serve the needs of insurance companies, direct primary care is for everybody; most DPC memberships cost less than your monthly cell phone or cable bill, for great care whenever you need it.
There may be per-visit fees and ancillary care,
.. labs, radiology, procedures are permissible as add-on ancillary fees. The per visit fee referenced in the definition is a simple flat fee that is imposed on any in-person interaction between the patient and the physician. When the per visit fee is higher than the monthly fee, the practice begins to function more like a cash pay urgent care, and no longer has unwanted attention from the insurance commissioner.
You can check this map for providers in your state.
New Hampshire’s map shows thirteen providers participating—two in Manchester, two in Concord, and two on the Seacoast. There is one in Jaffrey, one in Keene, and one north of Peterborough. One each in Hanover, Bristol, and Lyme. Nothing north of the Notches, which strikes me as the best place for them.
You can learn more about DCP here.
It is obviously not for everyone, especially if you suffer from a wide range of chronic health problems requiring lots of specialists or testing. That’s not to say there may not be treatment options available from DCP physicians. I have heard of cash-for-service practices with experts who provide care for a wide range of common conditions, but those arrangements are less common.
Getting there from here will require additional legislative action to free providers from hospital and insurer entanglements. It’s actually the only way we’ll ever bring the cost of care down. Competition among insurers, incentive to offer buffet plans on an open market, simplifying the process of switching health care plans, disconnecting health insurance from employment, and making providers compete for patients with better care at better rates.
That’d be a health care freedom.
DCP looks like a way to get there from here.
