Direct primary care usually costs $50 to $100 a month per person. At our Lake City practice, Basic Care is $60 a month, Premium Care is $120 a month, and there’s a one-time $75 membership fee. Starting in 2026, you can pay direct primary care fees from a health savings account.
Most pages that answer this question stop at the range and never name a number. That’s the frustrating part when you’re trying to work out whether a membership fits your budget. So here are our actual prices, what they include, what they don’t, and the tax rule that changed this year.
What Is the Average Direct Primary Care Monthly Cost?
Nationally, monthly fees for direct primary care patients generally range from $50 to $100, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians. Some practices charge more for older adults, and the fee structure varies from one practice to the next.
That range is real, but it’s also where most articles end. A range doesn’t tell you what you’d actually pay in Columbia County, and it doesn’t tell you what you get for the money. Two practices can both charge $75 a month and include very different things.
What Does Direct Primary Care Cost in Lake City?
Here’s our published pricing. No quote request, no “contact us for details.”
| Membership | Monthly cost | What’s included |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Care | $60 | Office, online, and telephone visits, an annual physical, after-hours care, text availability, labs at cost, discounted medications |
| Premium Care | $120 | Everything in Basic, plus a weight-loss consultation, monthly body analysis, integrative health, hormone health, a discount on Biote pellet placement, a discount on vitamin weight-loss injections, and one basic blood panel each year |
| Weight Loss | $99 | Monthly weight-loss consultation, monthly body analysis, monthly prescription, discount on vitamin weight-loss injection |
There’s a one-time $75 membership fee when you enroll. That’s it for the recurring side of the math. The medication itself is a separate purchase on the Weight Loss membership, and we tell you what it runs before you commit.
Individual membership spots are currently full, so new individual applicants join a waitlist. Our corporate partnership program is open now for local businesses that want to offer memberships to their teams. Either way, call us at (386) 243-8991 or reach out through the office and we’ll tell you exactly where things stand.
Are There Hidden Fees With Direct Primary Care?
This is the question we get most, and the honest answer is that a membership covers your primary care, not everything a body might need in a year.
What the monthly fee does not cover:
- Hospital stays, surgery, and emergency care
- Specialist visits and imaging
- Prescription medications themselves (we pass through discounted pricing, but the medication is still a purchase)
- Procedures we don’t perform in the office
Some services sit outside the membership and have their own published price. Our hormone care is a good example: a hormone consult is $100, new female pellet placement is $350, new male pellet placement is $700, and a cream or injection therapy refill is $50. Labs are $100 cash pay or $25 for an insurance draw. You can see the rest on our hormone therapy page and our weight wellness page.
The point of publishing all of it is that you can add up your own year before you join.
Can You Use an HSA to Pay for Direct Primary Care?
Yes, and this changed on January 1, 2026.
Before this year, a direct primary care membership could actually disqualify you from contributing to a health savings account, because the arrangement counted as other coverage alongside your high-deductible plan. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act rewrote that. The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS published the details in Notice 2026-5.
Three things worth knowing:
- There’s a dollar cap. An arrangement stops qualifying if the fees for one person exceed $150 a month, or $300 a month for an arrangement covering more than one person. The cap is adjusted for inflation after 2026. Our $60 and $120 memberships both sit under it.
- Nurse practitioners count. The rule defines a primary care practitioner to include nurse practitioners, which matters at a practice like ours where care is led by APRNs.
- Some things are carved out. The definition of primary care services excludes procedures requiring general anesthesia, prescription drugs other than vaccines, and lab work not typically done in an ambulatory primary care setting.
Because that last carve-out can affect how a specific membership is treated, check with your HSA administrator or tax advisor before you assume a particular plan qualifies. We can tell you what our memberships include. We can’t give you tax advice.
Is Direct Primary Care Cheaper Than Insurance?
It’s the wrong comparison, and we’d rather say so than sell you on a number.
Direct primary care handles the frequent, everyday care: checkups, sick visits, ongoing conditions, the text you send on a Tuesday afternoon. Insurance is built for the large and unpredictable: a hospital stay, a surgery, a serious diagnosis. The AAFP notes that because some services fall outside a membership, DPC practices generally suggest patients carry a high-deductible wrap-around policy for emergencies.
So the realistic setup for most members is both. A high-deductible plan for the rare expensive things, plus a membership for the routine care you actually use. Whether that saves you money depends on how much primary care your family uses now, what you currently pay in copays, and how often a rushed visit turns into a second visit.
Our guide to how direct primary care works walks through that comparison in more detail.
What Does Florida Law Require in a DPC Agreement?
Florida regulates these agreements, and the protections are worth knowing before you sign anything with any practice.
Under Florida Statute 624.27, a direct health care agreement is not insurance and isn’t governed by the Florida Insurance Code. The statute also sets out what the agreement itself has to contain:
- It has to be in writing and signed
- It must describe the services covered by the monthly fee, and state the monthly cost plus any additional service fees
- It must state the duration and any automatic renewal terms
- It must allow termination on 30 days’ notice
- It must provide for refunds if the practice stops offering services
- It must carry a plain disclosure, in contrasting color and at least 12-point type, that the agreement is not health insurance, doesn’t meet ACA requirements, and isn’t workers’ compensation
If a practice hands you an agreement missing those pieces, that tells you something.
What Are the Downsides of Direct Primary Care?
Three honest ones.
The membership is a new line in your budget. If you rarely see a provider and you’re comfortable with how your current care works, the value is thinner for you than it is for a family managing ongoing conditions.
Your fee doesn’t count toward an insurance deductible. Money spent on a membership is money spent on care, not progress toward a deductible.
And it isn’t a substitute for coverage. You still need a plan for the big things, which is why the pairing above matters.
Frequently Asked Questions About Direct Primary Care Cost
How much does direct primary care usually cost?
Monthly fees generally run $50 to $100 per person nationally, with some practices charging more for older adults. At our Lake City practice, Basic Care is $60 a month, Premium Care is $120 a month, and the Weight Loss membership is $99 a month, plus a one-time $75 membership fee.
Are there hidden fees with direct primary care?
There shouldn’t be. Florida law requires a DPC agreement to state the monthly cost and any additional service fees in writing before you sign. At our practice, services outside the membership carry published prices, such as a $100 hormone consult or $100 cash-pay labs.
Can I pay my direct primary care membership with an HSA?
Yes, as of January 1, 2026. Under IRS Notice 2026-5, you can pay direct primary care fees from a health savings account as long as fees don’t exceed $150 a month for one person, or $300 for an arrangement covering more than one. Confirm your specific situation with your HSA administrator or tax advisor.
Does direct primary care save money?
It depends on how much primary care you use. Members who see a provider several times a year, manage a chronic condition, or regularly pay for labs and medications tend to come out ahead. Someone who rarely seeks care may not. Add up a typical year for your household before you decide.
Is direct primary care a good alternative to insurance?
It’s a complement, not an alternative. Direct primary care covers everyday and preventive care. Insurance covers hospital stays, surgery, and emergencies. Most members pair a membership with a high-deductible health plan.
What are the downsides of direct primary care?
The membership is an added monthly cost, the fee doesn’t count toward an insurance deductible, and it doesn’t cover hospital, specialty, or emergency care. For people who rarely use primary care, the value is smaller.
Let’s Talk About What Your Family Actually Needs
Two sisters built this practice in Lake City because healthcare should feel like a relationship instead of a transaction. Publishing our prices is part of that. You shouldn’t have to fill out a form to find out what something costs.
If the numbers above make sense for your household, we’d love to care for you. Take a look at our direct primary care membership, call us at (386) 243-8991, or get in touch with the office and we’ll answer whatever’s still unclear.