.png)
A common question"But can I still use my insurance?"
Yes — and this is where a lot of people get confused. DPC replaces your primary care physician relationship. It doesn't replace your insurance.
You still want insurance for the things it's actually designed for: hospitalizations, surgeries, specialist care, imaging, and emergencies. Many of my patients pair their DPC membership with a high-deductible health plan, which tends to have much lower monthly premiums. For a lot of families, the math works out to be roughly cost-neutral — or even less expensive overall — once you factor in all the copays, urgent care visits, and specialist referrals they're no longer paying for.
Think of DPC as filling the gap that insurance was never really designed to fill: the ongoing, nuanced, relationship-based care that keeps you healthy.
No coverage? You're still welcomeWhat if I don't have insurance?
If you don't have insurance, this model may be the most straightforward way to actually have a physician. A lot of uninsured patients assume good primary care is simply out of reach — that the only options are an urgent care clinic or the emergency room. Direct Primary Care was built for exactly this situation.
Your membership is a flat $99 a month — no copays, no claims, no surprise bills. That's your entire primary care relationship, and you always know what it costs. And because I'm not billing insurance, I can help you find labs, imaging, and medications at transparent cash prices that are frequently a fraction of what you'd otherwise be charged.
I'll always be honest with you about the limits, though: Direct Primary Care is not insurance, and it isn't a replacement for it. Your membership covers the day-to-day care that keeps you healthy — but it can't cover a hospitalization, a surgery, an emergency room visit, or a serious diagnosis that needs specialty treatment. Even if you're paying out of pocket for your primary care, I strongly encourage you to carry at least a high-deductible or catastrophic plan to protect you from a major medical bill.
DPC handles the day-to-day. Insurance is for the catastrophes — and you still want a plan for those.
So if you're uninsured, you're welcome here. For many of my cash-pay patients, a membership is the most affordable, predictable way to finally have a doctor who knows them — and to stop putting off care out of fear of the bill.
Let's do the mathThe honest cost comparison
Here's roughly what a year of primary care can cost across the common options — a traditional copay plan, a high-deductible plan, and paying cash — alongside a Hometown Health membership. (None of these count the time lost to waiting rooms, scheduling delays, and phone tag — priceless, in the bad way.)
Swipe to compare →
| Per year | Traditionalcopay plan | High-deductiblepre-deductible | Cash payself-pay | Hometown HealthDPC membership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual physical / well visit | $40–60 | $150–250 | $150–300 | Included |
| Sick & acute visits (2–3) | $100–180 | $250–450 | $200–450 | Included |
| Urgent care visit (1) | $100–150 | $150–250 | $150–300 | Included |
| Follow-up visits (2) | $80–120 | $150–300 | $150–300 | Included |
| Lab work (annual panel) | $50–150 | $100–250 | $150–400 | Included |
| Estimated yearly total | $370–660 | $800–1,500 | $800–1,750 | $1,188 |
Figures are typical ranges shown for illustration — actual costs vary by plan, provider, and region. Hometown Health DPC is a flat $99/month ($1,188/year) with no copays, and the annual comprehensive lab panel is included.
And in every one of those models, you're still getting rushed, fragmented care from a physician who likely has 2,000+ patients on their panel. Most DPC physicians, by contrast, carry a panel of just 300 to 400 patients — and that smaller panel is exactly what frees up the time to genuinely know and care for every one of them.
Compare that to Hometown Health. The DPC membership is $99 a month — $1,188 a year — and covers everything listed above with no additional copays. For patients who also want hormone care, functional medicine, or medical weight loss, the Wellness membership adds $99 a month, or you can enroll in both for just $149 a month combined. For many patients managing hormones or weight alongside their primary care, the combined membership works out to be comparable in cost to what they were spending on copays, urgent care visits, and specialist referrals — with dramatically more access and far better continuity of care.
Is this for you?Who gets the most out of DPC
Direct Primary Care isn't for everyone, and I'd rather be honest about that than oversell it. The patients who tend to benefit most are:
- Women navigating perimenopause or menopause who want a physician with real hormone expertise
- Anyone who has struggled with their weight and wants a medically supervised approach — not a one-size-fits-all program
- People dealing with complex, overlapping symptoms who feel like they've never gotten a complete answer
- Busy professionals who can't afford to take half a day to sit in a waiting room
- Anyone who wants a physician they can actually reach when something comes up
- Anyone who is overweight and wants a physician who doesn't make every concern a symptom of their weight
If you typically just want someone to fill your medications and not dig too deep to make changes, then DPC may not offer enough additional value for you. But if you've ever left an appointment feeling like your concerns weren't fully heard — if you've ever thought "I wish my doctor had more time" — this model was built for you.
.png)
