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- Direct primary care is a small but fast-growing movement of doctors who don’t accept insurance and instead charge a monthly membership fee.
- At a time when many are feeling pressure from high healthcare costs, direct primary-care models can be a cheaper alternative that offers perks like quick access to doctors and sometimes wholesale prices on medications or lab tests.
- And it could be a model employers — including JPMorgan, Amazon, and Berkshire Hathaway through their nonprofit healthcare venture — could tap into as a way of lowering costs.
A new kind of doctor’s office that charges a monthly fee and doesn’t take insurance has been spreading around the US.
The practices are part of a movement known as direct primary care. Instead of accepting insurance for routine visits and drugs, these practices charge a monthly membership fee — often between $ 50 and $ 150 a month — that covers most of what the average patient needs, including visits and drugs at much lower prices. The movement’s been gaining momentum at a time when high-deductible health plans are on the rise.See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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