Frequently Asked Questions
Nothing can match an in-person, face-to-face encounter, so we highly encourage you to schedule a free “meet and greet” visit to meet one of our clinicians. Having said that, here are responses to some commonly asked questions:
Yes. Our practice company, Personal Care Physicians PC, works with most insurance plans to cover traditional health care services (office visits, lab or imaging tests, hospitalizations, specialist visits, etc). We handle insurance-related processes including co-pays and deductibles similar to any other traditional office, as we are legally bound to do. Members of our practice pay an additional modest fee to our managing company, Personal Care Physicians of Greater Newburyport LLC, which contracts with our practice company and manages all services, including our non-insurance covered enhanced items and services, such as the virtual visits, home visits, accompaniment visits, and helps make possible our extended in-office visits, same day visits, 24/7 direct access, and more. Our members experience a seamless quality of care that is both personalized and convenience-oriented.
There are a few select insurance plans which, due to their contracting limitations, only allow us to serve patients within the traditional healthcare model. In these cases, we provide care under such parameters – without our additional non-insurance covered features, and without any retainer fee.
Our cost is as follows:
$55 per month for ages 0-22 years
$65 per month for ages 23-54 years
$75 per month for ages 55 years and older
Families within a single household will only pay for up to 4 individuals; additional younger individuals will receive free memberships.
Membership payments can be collected on an annual, semi-annual, or monthly basis; discounts are provided for the first two options.
We have found no other similarly structured practice in MA or NH offering a competitively equivalent fee. Our fees are established with families in mind and with the philosophy that high-quality, convenient, personalized care should be affordable to both a wide spectrum of individuals as well as to entire families. For comparison, our fees are 1/5 – 1/6 the cost of a similar practice in Boston, and we are able to accommodate a family of 2 parents and 2 children a yearly fee for less than 50% the average fee for a single individual adult at such Boston practices.
We highly encourage you to call your insurance plan to verify their reimbursement of our membership fees, as only they can answer this question with certainty. Yet most commonly, the observational and experiential answer is yes. HSA’s allow the patients to be reimbursed up to the membership amount or their contribution, whichever is less. It is also important to note – for FSA’s especially – that you cannot pay for the membership up front with your account debit or credit card – you must first use the services and be reimbursed by the FSA after you start using them.
We can do this because Personal Care Physicians of Greater Newburyport will maintain a limited patient panel per provider, the equivalent of only 20-25% (or less) of the typical patient panel of an average primary care physician in America today. The intent of such a small patient community is to maintain unparalleled personal, accessible care that is gratifying to all. It is our priority to allow the time and space to cultivate the relationship between each patient and the provider.
Should you relocate your residence, you may terminate your relationship with Personal Care Physicians of Greater Newburyport with a 30 day prior written notice and be refunded the prorated remainder of your yearly membership fee minus an administration fee equivalent to one month’s payment. Personal Care Physicians of Greater Newburyport also reserves the right to terminate our relationship, in which case you will be refunded the prorated remainder of your yearly membership fee.
Our official office hours are Monday through Friday 9am-5pm, but we are obviously flexible and accessible depending on the need each day. As always, our clinicians are available by phone, text, and email 24/7, and some appointments may even be arranged outside of the office, as warranted.
We would be happy to answer any questions you may have on these or other matters. Contact us today!