The True Costs of Sick Visits

Understanding how you’re billed —and how much it really costs—for sick visits with your doctor or an urgent care can be eye-opening.

The TL;DR: membership-based practices who don't take insurance provide more personalized, higher quality, and more convenient care for lower costs than typical primary care and urgent care practices.

Join the Family

Let’s break down the numbers and show why Partner Medical’s direct primary care model is a smarter, more affordable alternative for your healthcare needs.

1. Deductibles

If you have health insurance, a deductible is the amount you must pay out-of-pocket for healthcare services before your insurance starts covering costs.

For example, if your deductible is $2,000, your insurance won’t pay a dime until you’ve paid $2,000 in healthcare costs. So every urgent care visit will be full price until you’ve spend $2,000 on healthcare for the year.

Since most people with high-deductible insurance plans don’t hit their deductible in a typical year, the full cost of each urgent care visit is often your responsibility.

2. Co-Pays

A co-pay is a flat fee you pay every time you see a doctor, even after meeting your deductible. For urgent care, co-pays typically range from $50 to $100 per visit, depending on your insurance plan.

Keep in mind, this is in addition to the cost of the visit itself and any extra charges for services like lab work, x-rays, or prescriptions.

3. Sick Visit Out-of-pocket Bills

The average cost of a sick visit (whether an urgent care or a traditional primary care clinic) is around $250, not including co-pays or added expenses. If you see your doctor for an illness (for yourself or your children) three times a year—the average for most people—that’s $750 per year, just for basic care.

When you add in a $50–$100 co-pay for each visit, the total jumps to $900–$1,050 annually. This doesn’t even account for follow-up costs, like medications, additional tests, or follow up visits which you may need to pay for separately.

4. The Hidden Time Expense of Sick Visits

Beyond the money, sick visits also come with a big time cost. On average, patients spend 90 minutes to 2 hours per visit between waiting to be seen, completing paperwork, and receiving treatment.

That doesn’t include drive time to the clinic or extra time spent waiting at a pharmacy picking up prescriptions. If you go three times a year, that’s six hours of your time—and likely much more.

5. Why Partner Medical Is a Better Option for Sick Visits

At Partner Medical, we offer a different approach focused on delivering personalized, high quality, and convenient care delivered by a provider who knows you.

We offer this to our members for a flat monthly fee that gives them direct and unlimited access to care anytime, anywhere - for the same or lower costs.

Personalized: Because we keep our patient panels small, you get personalized attention and care from a provider who knows you and your health history. You’re not just another face in a busy clinic—you’re our priority.
Convenient: Care when you (or your kids) need it, period. Your provider is just a text away if you need care now or feel free to schedule ahead.
High quality: Care from experts in family and emergency medicine, dedicated to delivering the best care available.

Stay Ahead of Health Issues

Urgent care is reactive, treating problems after they happen. Partner Medical takes a proactive approach, offering preventive care and chronic disease management, while always being ready to take care of acute issues that come up.

The Bottom Line: Better Care for Less

The costs for sick visits—both in money and time—add up fast. Between deductibles, co-pays, and the time spent per visit, the average person pays over $1,000 annually and spends hours dealing with the hassle. And this is before the costs for sick visits for children. On top of this, most providers at these clinics are far too busy to deliver care that’s truly personalized to you.

With Partner Medical, you get truly personalized attention, higher quality care, and unlimited access for comparable cost - for both urgent care and general primary care needs for you and your children.

No wait times or waiting rooms. No co-pays or surprise bills. No middleman. No hassles. Just you and your provider.

Take control of your healthcare today. Learn more about Partner Medical and join us for a smarter, simpler way to stay healthy