DPC fixes healthcare – you’re welcome!

This post was by Michelle Cooke, MD:

Another title for this piece could be Revolutionizing Healthcare in America: The Case for Direct Primary Care for the Middle Class so let me explain.

When people first encounter the concept of Direct Primary Care (DPC), a common question arises: “What about the poor? How can they afford DPC?”

While we have models that demonstrate the viability of the cash-based subscription model of DPC across various socioeconomic settings, I argue that the most significant opportunity to reform healthcare starts with the middle class. Yes, everyone deserves access to quality healthcare. However, in my career, I have rarely seen patients with Medicaid avoid care due to cost. On the other hand, I have encountered countless middle-class parents who hesitate to seek medical attention for their sick children because they are still burdened by previous medical bills.

Let’s face it: our safety-net medical facilities, intended to ensure access for the poor, are in disarray. Yet, for the middle class, there is no safety net. Although the middle class often has health insurance, they lack access to affordable healthcare and face financial ruin each time they use their insurance. In my city of Atlanta, our safety net hospital is now overwhelmed, not only by the needs of the poor but increasingly by middle-class patients seeking cost-effective care.

We cannot overlook the fact that medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcy. Nor can we ignore that wages for the middle class have remained stagnant as employers struggle to cope with rising healthcare premiums, rather than increasing pay for their workers. Our safety net facilities are largely funded by taxes from the working and middle class. This situation squeezes the middle class from both ends of their paycheck, leaving them without access to reasonable care.

Expanding Direct Primary Care addresses this issue in multiple ways. It provides high-quality, affordable healthcare to the middle class. By offering employers a reasonably priced healthcare solution for their employees, we can expect to see wages rise again (barring corporate greed, but that’s another topic!). Our nation will prosper with a healthier, better-paid middle class. A stronger tax base can better support our safety net facilities, preserving access to healthcare services for the poor and preventing the middle class from competing with the poor for these crucial resources.

For too long, we have attempted to fix healthcare with health insurance and have failed miserably. It’s time to focus on providing genuine healthCARE – Direct Primary Care.

Dr. Michelle Cooke is not only a rock-star Family Physician, she is a wife, boy-mom, yogi and a proud Direct Primary Care Physician. She is the owner & founder of Southwest Atlanta’s first DPC Practice – Sol Direct Primary Care. The DPC model frees Dr. Cooke to spend more time with her patients to practice lifestyle medicine. She helps her patients achieve their best health with less medication! When she is not in the office, you’ll find Dr. Cooke on the yoga mat, frolicking in nature, or jamming to live music around Atlanta. https://sol-dpc.org