What does direct primary care cost?
Direct primary care costs a flat monthly membership fee. At Live Well DPC in Sarasota that fee is $70 to $160 a month depending on your age, plus a one-time $100 enrollment charge, and it covers your everyday primary care with no copay at any visit. Every tier is listed below.
What changes is what you are paying for. Instead of a copay at every visit, coinsurance you cannot predict and a bill that turns up weeks later, the membership fee is the price. There is nothing to settle at the desk on your way out.
What the membership fee covers
- Unlimited visits, with no copay
- Access to your provider after hours when something urgent comes up
- Telemedicine whenever it suits the problem
- Unhurried appointments, because the patient panel is kept deliberately small
- Discounted rates on labs, imaging and some medication dispensed in the office
What it does not cover
A membership pays for primary care, not for everything that can happen to you. Hospital stays, surgery, emergency care and specialist treatment all sit outside it. That is why most members keep a high deductible plan or a health care sharing ministry alongside the membership rather than instead of it.
A few things carry their own charge as well: home visits, medication where it is required, and pathology processing for procedures such as simple skin biopsies.
How it compares with paying through insurance
With insurance, the price of a visit is rarely the price you see. You pay a premium, then a copay, then whatever your deductible has not yet absorbed. Direct primary care removes that arithmetic for everyday care, because the monthly fee is the whole cost and you know it in advance.
Whether it works out cheaper depends on you. If you see a doctor once a year and your plan has a low deductible, it may not. If you have a high deductible plan, a chronic condition that needs regular attention, or a family that seems to need something most months, the membership usually costs less than the visits would have.
Can I pay for direct primary care with an HSA?
Yes, as of 2026. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the IRS guidance that followed it, eligible individuals can use Health Savings Account funds tax-free toward qualifying direct primary care membership fees, and a qualifying arrangement no longer stops you contributing to an HSA, provided the applicable requirements are met. There is more detail in our frequently asked questions.
Is direct primary care worth paying for twice?
It is a fair question, because most members are paying for a membership and an insurance plan at the same time. The answer is that the two are not buying the same thing. Insurance is there for the expensive, rare and catastrophic. The membership is there for the ordinary: the sore throat, the blood pressure check, the rash you want looked at before the weekend, the prescription that needs adjusting. Paying for the ordinary separately is what lets you drop to a cheaper plan for the catastrophic.
What it costs at Live Well
Our membership tiers are set by age:
- Students, 16 to 24 — $70 a month
- Adults under 40 — $100 a month
- Adults 40 to 64 — $130 a month
- Adults 65 and over — $160 a month
There is a one-time $100 enrollment charge when you join. Home visits are $50 a visit, and a single visit without a membership is $125.
If you want to talk it through before deciding, get in touch with our team and we will answer honestly, including when we think the numbers would not work in your favour.
