In short: Direct Primary Care (DPC) is a membership model where you pay your physician a flat monthly fee — no insurance billing for office visits. In exchange, you get flexible scheduling, longer, unhurried visits, and a doctor who actually knows you. New Essence Health’s DPC membership is $150/month in Buckhead, Atlanta, with statewide Georgia telehealth.
The short answer
Direct Primary Care (DPC) is a healthcare model where patients pay their physician a flat, recurring membership fee — usually monthly — in exchange for essentially unlimited access to primary care. There’s no insurance company sitting between you and your doctor for everyday visits, no per-visit co-pay, and no surprise bill three months later. You call, you’re seen, you pay one predictable amount.
It’s the model behind New Essence Health’s membership in Buckhead, Atlanta — $150/month per adult member, one simple price, delivered in person or by telehealth anywhere in Georgia. New members also pay a one-time $125 enrollment fee, which includes your Essence Care Health Kit — a blood pressure monitor, pulse oximeter, digital scale, and thermometer for tracking your vitals at home.
How is DPC different from a normal doctor’s visit?
A traditional primary care practice is built around insurance billing. To stay financially viable while accepting low insurance reimbursement rates, most practices need to see a high volume of patients — which is exactly why the standard appointment has shrunk to seven or eight minutes, and why getting a new-patient appointment can mean a multi-week wait.
DPC removes that pressure. Because the practice is paid directly by a small panel of members rather than reimbursed per-visit by insurers, a DPC physician can intentionally keep their patient panel small — often a few hundred patients instead of two or three thousand. That’s what makes flexible scheduling and longer, unhurried visits possible.
What’s typically included in a DPC membership?
- Unlimited office visits with no per-visit charge
- Flexible, responsive appointment scheduling
- Direct phone or secure-message access to your physician
- Annual physicals and preventive screenings
- Chronic and acute disease management
- Care coordination and specialist referrals
- Telehealth visits
At New Essence Health, membership also includes weight management and hormone therapy support, plus unlimited generic medications included for your first year (delivered to your door) and cash-pay pricing on labs and imaging, with no insurance markups. See the full list on the Services page.
Do I still need health insurance?
Yes — and this is the most common misconception about DPC. A DPC membership covers your primary care. It does not cover hospitalization, surgery, emergency care, or specialist visits outside of what your primary care physician coordinates. Most DPC members pair their membership with a high-deductible health plan (HDHP), catastrophic policy, or a medical cost-sharing plan to cover the bigger, less predictable costs — often coming out ahead overall, since routine primary care is fully covered by the membership and the paired plan can carry a lower premium.
How is DPC different from concierge medicine?
Concierge medicine and DPC are often confused, but they’re structured differently. Concierge practices typically charge a high annual retainer on top of continuing to bill your insurance for visits. DPC replaces insurance billing for primary care entirely with one transparent monthly fee — which is generally why DPC membership costs a fraction of traditional concierge retainers. We break this down in detail in DPC vs. Concierge vs. Traditional Insurance.
Is Direct Primary Care right for you?
DPC tends to be a strong fit if you: want responsive access to your doctor instead of waiting weeks; manage a chronic condition and want ongoing, attentive follow-up; are self-employed or otherwise shopping for your own coverage and want predictable primary care costs; or are simply tired of feeling rushed through a 7-minute visit. It’s a less natural fit if your only healthcare need is a once-a-decade physical and cost is your only consideration — though even then, many patients find the medication and lab pricing alone makes membership worthwhile.
Georgia HSA eligibility, effective 2026
As of January 1, 2026, DPC memberships are recognized as qualified medical expenses under federal HSA rules (per the One Big Beautiful Bill Act), provided the monthly fee stays within $150/month for an individual (or $300/month for a family) and you maintain a qualifying HDHP. New Essence Health’s $150/month membership fits within this limit, so many members may be able to use HSA funds toward their membership. Details in our HSA guide.
