Although cost shouldn’t be a deciding factor for whether a person can access quality healthcare, the truth is that cost does make a difference. For people without health insurance, cost is an even more pressing concern. 

But, to put it into perspective, how much is a primary care visit without insurance? The amount may be a surprise.

Patients without healthcare often don’t prioritize primary care, only treating acute medical issues if and when they do pop up. However, spending the extra money to see a primary care doctor once a year pays for itself by helping to prevent often expensive health concerns before they can develop or worsen.

But if people without insurance pay out of pocket for their care, how much are they looking at? While that number changes depending on the office and their specific financial policies, patients often have a bill of at least a few hundred dollars (on average, between $300 and $600) — and most offices don’t do payment plans. 

What is primary care?

Primary care providers (or PCPs) must have an extensive knowledge base to be good at their jobs. While specialists can spend all their time focusing on a single branch of medicine, PCPs have to know enough about every other branch of medicine to appropriately diagnose a patient. They’re among the most important medical providers in the healthcare field, and the benefits of seeing one are significant. 

One of the biggest benefits of having an established primary care doctor is that patients can develop a relationship with their provider. This sense of familiarity is crucial for several reasons — patients feel more comfortable discussing potentially embarrassing health issues and have a greater sense of trust in their provider’s knowledge, which leads to more positive health outcomes. 

Healthcare should never be a one-size-fits-all event, and when patients have a trusting relationship with their doctor, they can receive the personalized care they need to get and stay healthy.

Preventive care is the other significant benefit of having a primary care doctor. Think of health as a dam. While it’s possible to plug some of the holes that may appear in the dam, eventually, that pressure will cause the dam to break. 

Instead of trying to constantly treat and manage the health concerns resulting from a lack of preventive care, a primary care doctor is the engineer responsible for ensuring the whole system works before there’s a problem. 

What ailments aren’t appropriate for primary care?

As wonderful as primary care doctors are, not every ailment or concern is appropriate to be seen by them. 

For example, health issues that are severe or emergent — chest pain, mental health crises, moderate to severe burns, seizures, strokes etc. — need to be seen and evaluated by an in-person provider as soon as possible. Often, this means heading to the emergency room for immediate, life-saving care. 

Patients with less significant health concerns, like nasal congestion, cough, or mild to moderate nausea and diarrhea, can often still see their primary care provider to be evaluated. However, many telemedicine providers — including HealthTap — offer acute care for issues outside regular business hours. 

Urgent care clinics are designed to help patients get care for their milder health concerns that occur nights, weekends, and even holidays.

Why is telehealth a good option?

Those without insurance aren’t doomed to pay hundreds of dollars out of their pockets yearly. Telemedicine offers insured and uninsured people a unique option to access quality, personalized health care without excessive costs.

While there is a cost associated with using telehealth services, it is often far less for people who aren’t insured than they’d pay to see a doctor in person. At HealthTap, most patients find that they are only paying the equivalent of what their copay would be with an “out-of-network” doctor. 

Even though telehealth is less expensive than going to a doctor in person, patients don’t receive any lower-quality care. Telemedicine can even significantly expand the options available to patients nationwide; it gives them access to primary care doctors and urgent care professionals without leaving their homes or spending gas money. 

With a few exceptions, most patients can have their chronic health conditions and medications managed virtually the same way they would have them managed at a doctor’s office. However, telehealth providers cannot prescribe controlled drugs or treat emergent health issues like chest pain or seizures. 

Community health clinics may also relieve some of the burden

For some patients, the cost of a primary care visit without insurance (even by telemedicine) is still too steep. Patients with a demonstrated financial need but can’t qualify for government assistance or health plans may be able to access care at a low-cost community health center. 

The costs of visiting a community health center are often related to income and work on a sliding scale. However, the waitlist to see a provider is often lengthy — due to need, many of these clinics schedule out months in advance. 

How much is a primary care visit without insurance? Enough to make most people think twice about paying out of pocket, leading to neglected health and an increased risk of developing or worsening health concerns. 

Telemedicine through HealthTap can bridge the gap for insured and uninsured people, giving them direct access to the care they need to maintain their most optimal level of health — often for a far lower cost than going to a primary care physician in person without insurance. 

Everyone deserves quality healthcare — don’t be held back by a lack of insurance!