Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of practice is this?
We offer traditional family practice medicine. We see young, old, and everyone in between. We offer services at a lower cost for direct pay rather than insurance.

Why no insurance?
We want to work for you. When a doctor contracts with an insurance company to take payment for services, you are no longer the focus. More and more restrictions are being placed on how medicine is practiced, and unfortunately cost is often the deciding factor and not the quality of care.

Why do I even have insurance?
To cover major medical expenses. Health insurance is the only form of insurance that we expect to cover preventive and maintenance care. We would never expect our house insurance to cover new carpet or our car insurance to buy new windshield wipers. The pricey healthcare costs that we see today have been driven by our expectations that our health insurance covers such preventive and maintenance care.

But I have great insurance?
Your insurance can still be utilized for referrals to specialists, additional testing, and prescriptions.

Can I submit my visit to my insurance?
Absolutely. We are happy to provide you with the appropriate codes to submit for possible payment with your insurance at the end of your visit.  We cannot guarantee payment, however, if you are consistently reimbursed higher than you pay us then we expect a nice Christmas card or at least we want to hear about it.

How can Direct Medical Care charge so little?
When we don’t have to fight insurance companies on what we want for our patients and subsequently don’t have to fight to get paid for what we do for our patients—we all win. We enjoy our jobs and your cost goes down. In the end this leads to happier, healthier lives for all.

I have Medicare. Can you see me?
Absolutely. Dr. Riggs has opted out of Medicare. This means neither Direct Medical Care nor the patient can submit a claim to Medicare for reimbursement. The drastically reduced rates still offer great enough savings to appeal to all Medicare patients.

I have a high deductible plan and an HSA (Health Savings Account). How does this model work for me?
You have the perfect set-up for this model. We allow you to maximize your tax-free HSA money.  Our fees are 100% eligible to be paid by your HSA.  With our low costs your HSA is allowed to grow for future needs rather than your money being lost to insurance premiums.

Is this a new concept?
No, this is a huge trend in healthcare right now. We encourage you to look at the following sites for further information: http://www.dpcare.org and http://www.aapsonline.org. You can also look for articles that reference "cash based medical practices" or "direct pay care."

What about the Affordable Care Act?
Direct pay or cash based medical practices are recognized in the Affordable Care Act. Here is an interesting article about the Affordable Care Act and the current trends that we invite you to read http://www.forbes.com/sites/sallypipes/2013/04/01/fed-up-with-obamacare-doctors-increasingly-prefer-cash-for-care/