More Options Than Ever When Choosing DPC-Centric Health Plans

Innovation in healthcare coverage for employees has been happening for years, producing more choices than ever.  Yet, with so many commonsense options, you’d think employers would be lined up to purchase smarter, better, less expensive benefits.  It can seem frustrating to still have to work this hard to push the truth.  However, we can’t give up yet.

Take, for instance, the story of Surgery Center of Oklahoma.  It’s one of direct healthcare’s legendary success stories.  The earliest stages of the story read of struggle and uncertainty but with a stubborn persistence that paid off big.  I interviewed Dr. Smith on my podcast a couple years ago.  Here’s the link to it, if you’re interested – Part 1 and Part 2.

I’d hate to imagine what we’d be missing today if they’d given up when the healthcare industrial complex tried to squash them in the early stages of their development.  You should do a few google searches and listen to everything Dr. Smith has ever said.  You won’t be sorry.  

I bring up this story because I’m trying to encourage you to seek out some of the up-and-coming DPC – Centric health plan designs that are emerging in your area.  Don’t let them die on the vine or become discouraged by the giants they stand at odds with.  Be like the “little engines that could”, the way Dr. Smith & Dr. Lantier were when they first started.

So, let’s explore some of these new DPC- Centric health plan designs…here’s a short list to go by.  These are in no particular order and are available in all 50 states – 

FairCost Health Plan – Carl Schuessler, Jr. and his DPC-Centric Health Plan design have been written about in case study books like Dave Chase’s “The CEOs who Restored the American Dream”.  You’ll find many testimonials on the Mitigate Partners You Tube Channel.  Long-standing case studies like The Gasparilla Inn & Club (since 2016) as well as DeSoto Memorial Hospital (since 2019) are held up as gold standards among other DPC-Centric plans.  “Direct Primary Care is the foundational building block to a quality health plan.  The biggest issue in the healthcare system today is the patient isn’t front and center, and DPC allows the system to be be patient-centric again.” – Carl Schuessler, Jr.

Decent – We’ve all said that when you start your care encounters with DPC, employees should have no out-of-pocket.  Well, how far can we keep that zero out-of-pocket experience going?  Decent intends to show us the way.  Co-founded by Nick Soman, we are seeing a major shift in what DPC-Centric care ought to look like.  “The secret we know, and the world is discovering, is that you can build a health plan around DPC and offer a premium health experience for a lot less money. We’re proud to serve companies like Health Rosetta, Nextera, and Hint, who are early DPC supporters and luminaries who are voting with their feet.” – Nick Soman

These plans (in no particular order) are available in certain regions of the country.  Read on to learn more…

If you’re in Ohio, you’ll want to look up Great Lakes Health Plan, engineered by Bryce Heinbaugh.  Bryce pulled together what I think is the shining star of “community-owned health plans” and it’s inspiring to hear how he’s made a difference in his hometown by bringing people together to take care of each other.  “Direct Primary Care has become our absolute staple strategy for fixing fragmented medicine.  With over 100 different specialties in medicine, people no longer receive care focused on the full body and all of its systems.  With the nation’s highest obesity and diabetic rates in history, autoimmune and metabolic disorders through the roof as well as ridiculously expensive costs of care; proper primary care can address all these things which allow the physicians to practice at the highest level of their training which directly impacts the health outcomes of their patients.  Getting people well again so they are not spending their lives in and out of the death trap we call healthcare in this country, is the golden benefit of the Direct Primary Care model.  Oh, and by the way, it lowers overall healthcare costs extraordinarily.” – Bryce Heinbaugh

If you’re near Amarillo, TX, you’ll need to make a beeline for High Plains Health Plan where Josh Butler is innovating beyond the traditional health plans and the data speaks for itself.  “We are creating a new healthcare economy, where care is affordable and truly accessible for all.” – Josh Butler, President of Butler Benefits & Consulting.  Josh is very hands on and personally sees to it that employees are well taken care of.  Just like their DPC doctors do.

 

If you’re in the Upper Midwest, Self Fund Health offers a turn-key free market health plan to employers through their broker or advisor.  It has shown to be a real solution to reverse the current unsustainable trends and as a result, the health plan is growing rapidly in this area. The model was originally designed by cofounder Matt Ohrt, who formerly served as the VP of HR at Merrill Steel in Central Wisconsin.  They make DPC (Direct Primary Care) the heartbeat of the medical strategy – the Medical Director of the plan and build DSC (Direct Specialty Care) options all around it for the DPCs to refer to, such as imaging, surgery, infusion, oncology, and even cardiology.  Hospital care is still available to all members, but it serves as more of an expensive alternative – a backup to a vast array of free market independent providers in the state.  If you haven’t read Matt’s book, “Save Your Company, Don’t Feed the Beast!”, you need to put it on your Christmas list today.  Lastly, and this is maybe the best thing you’ll watch today, Matt gave a fantastic talk at the Free Market Medical Association’s annual conference this year.  I was in the audience when he delivered his comments.  Watch until the very end, you won’t be sorry.  Here’s the link to that talk — Grassroots and Brush Fires: How Wisconsinites are Taking Back Healthcare Matt Ohrt, Self Fund Health.

Here’s the good news for DPC.  

Just like Matt said, the BUCAs are definitely not going to give up on their theft of American wealth through the healthcare system they dominate.  But you can always facilitate a super-hero type of rescue by suggesting to the employers around you that a well thought out, buttoned up, self-funded health plan such as these I’ve suggested and more (there are plenty more so just ask around).  I feel very confident that both you and the employers around you will be better off.  And as I suggested early on, when we all support each other, we have a better chance of thriving together in this new, alternative healthcare economy.  

I’m thankful for the DPC community and for the benefits advisor trailblazers I am part of.  I hope each of you has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends.