This page is purely educational on what some individuals do to enhance coverage outside of Direct Primary Care membership, since the scope of DPC does have limitations. Each individual must review the risks/benefits, educate themselves, and discuss with their insurance agents as to the best course of action. This is not considered advice or recommendations, and neither does the Practice nor do the Physicians endorse or recommend any particular product.
Option 1: Patients Cannot Afford Anything Else
This option is the riskiest because individuals don't have coverage for anything beyond the DPC membership, so they will have to bear all additional costs. But unfortunately, this is the reality for many individuals, and through our practice, they are at least able to get access to solid primary care that may help them avoid unnecessary hospitalizations and high cost visits.
Option 2: Patients Invest in a “Rainy Day” Fund
In this option, many individuals who are looking to be fiscally conservative will take the money they normally would have spent toward a health insurance premium (which may be upwards of $25,000 for a family of four + $6,000 deducible) and invest it and know that it is the money they will pull for any high cost expenses. And if they don't need to pull it, it continues to grow.
Option 3: Patients Switch to a “Health Share”
Health Shares (also known as Medical Cost Sharing) are non-profit benevolent organizations that initially stem their roots from the religious sector, but more recently from a values-based sector, where a group of individuals pay toward a common pool, and when individuals have a "need", a request is put into that pool and the money is used. This has gained popularity recently, and may work for more healthier individuals. Each plan has its own limitations, and some plans give you a discounted monthly contribution rate if you can prove you are a member of a Direct Primary Care practice.
Planstin (Employer Solutions) Hilary Alexander hilaryalexander@planstin.com https://www.planstin.com
Option 4: Enroll in a DPC-Friendly Insurance/Coverage Plan
As the healthcare system has started to evolve, there are more traditional coverage plans that are designed to work with/around the DPC practice to be able to provide the catastrophic and cost-savings coverage people are looking for. This model also works well for individuals who have more than 50 employees and need to meet the ACA requirements.
Typically individuals in this model are the most risk-averse, and want to maintain their insurance. Usually they choose plans that are higher deductibles but may choose a higher premium plan as well. Individuals in this plan are looking for the DPC model to really focus on the relationship and access, and are worried less about the financial cost. Some of these individuals are also on Medicare and Medicaid, but pay for the DPC membership in addition to it. They may also get their insurance from the Health Insurance Exchange/Obamacare.
