I have health insurance why would I join? 

"I have great health insurance, why would I pay for a membership?" We hear that all the time and that's awesome. Many of our patients carry traditional health insurance but come to Moxie MD for a higher level of care and more personalized and convenient healthcare experience.  

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Even with the great health insurance can you get in with your doctor when you need to or are you shuffled to nurse practitioners or urgent care? Are you able to direct speak or text with your doctor? Do you get visits with your doctor that last longer than 10 minutes? Even after your "great health insurance" pays are you still stuck with a large bill until you reach your deductible?

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Health insurance does NOT equal healthcare. If you have health insurance that is great but you will still get many great benefits of being a patient at Moxie MD and a level of care that you are likely not experiencing currently even with your health insurance. Moxie MD does not bill your insurance for our membership cost or any of our in-office services as these are included at no extra cost in our membership. All your primary care needs are met with our low monthly membership cost and included.

If you have traditional insurance we can utilize your insurance for medications, referrals, imaging, etc but often you will find that cash cost is cheaper than using your insurance. Keep in mind that when using your insurance, they set the rules on whether a test or treatment is covered, and how much it costs. This can delay testing or treatment options and sometimes, it's best to not use your insurance. 

Most insurance plans cover the services Dr. Schafer writes for (labs, imaging, referrals, etc) but some HMOs may not. Ultimately it is the patient's responsibility to their coverages if they want to use insurance for services from our office. Cash pricing often is cheaper even for patients with health insurance.

I'm uninsured, how can Moxie MD benefit me?

Moxie MD's fees are the same regardless of income, insurance arrangement, level of health or utilization of our services.

If you don't have health insurance we can offer the benefits of a primary care doctor for a low monthly fee helping you to avoid utilizing emergency rooms and stop putting off preventative care because of expensive medical bills.

Moxie MD is a great way to receive high quality primary health care, but we do believe and recommend having insurance is needed for unexpected and expensive events such as surgery, ER visit or hospitalization. 

I have Medicaid or Medicare. Can I join?

Medicare:

We CAN contract with Medicare beneficiaries to provide primary care services. Our membership charges CANNOT be billed to Medicare by us or the patient and the beneficiary must sign a Private Contract prior to joining acknowledging this fact. As Medicare is an open network, patients may continue to use their Medicare benefit elsewhere with accepting specialists as usual. We can use your Medicare insurance for prescriptions, referrals or imaging. 

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Medicaid:

We do not contract with any Medicaid plans and cannot bill them for our services. Medicaid recipients are welcome to join Moxie MD, but need to keep in mind we cannot use their Medicaid for any services (such as imaging, referrals, medications and labs) and they would have to pay cash price. Medicaid patients are assigned "network Primary Care Physician (PCP)" when enrolled in Medicaid that may be required to access other health plan benefits and services. 

Do I still need health insurance? Is Moxie MD membership health insurance?

Since membership in Moxie MD Direct Care Family Medicine is not health insurance, we recommend having health insurance or other insurance alternatives to provide assistance with major medical issues such as hospitalization, surgery, etc.
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Plans that have lower monthly premiums and higher deductibles work best with membership in our practice. We'll provide all your primary care, help you save on out of pocket costs, and you can save your insurance as protection against catastrophic health issues.

​Our doctor doesn't bill insurance for her services and our membership fee is not covered by insurance. This is actually what makes direct primary care work. By keeping insurance out of routine healthcare, we are able to lower costs, see fewer patients, and provide the care that is best for you.

If you do have insurance, you are welcome to use it to cover lab work, referrals, imaging, and more. But, the majority of patients with insurance will find it is significantly cheaper to pay non-insurance cash prices instead.

In fact, if you are one of the many people who does not routinely hit your insurance deductible, our model of healthcare will save you money by lowering your out of pocket costs.
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Insurance is great to protect you if you get seriously ill or injured and incur major medical expenses. But, in the same way you wouldn't use car insurance to get your oil changed, we suggest saving health insurance for the big stuff.

What is included and not included in membership price?

Membership includes all your primary care needs including unlimited office visits, yearly physicals, acute/urgent care visits, telehealth visits as well as in office lab testing, in office procedures, and care coordination with specialists or other care providers. Our patients enjoy direct access to Dr. Schafer via texting and after hours availability for urgent needs via phone or text and same/next day appointments for acute needs and illness. For more information visit "Services and Pricing" tab above.

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Any healthcare you receive outside of our office is not included with membership. Laboratory testing that is sent to an outside lab, medication, vaccines, and other services are not included. Moxie MD members also have access to heavily discounted labs and imaging (50-80% off insurance pricing) through Quest Labs and Springfield MRI/Imaging Center or you can choose to bill through your insurance though we cannot guarantee the pricing.

When there is a cost for a test or service in our office, we will always let you know the cost up front. We pass along our wholesale prices to you so that your costs are low and predictable.

I'm healthy and rarely go to the doctor. Why would I join?

That is great! Our primary focus is to keep members well and avoiding lots of "medical" care.  As such, we can dedicate more time to prevention and lifestyle issues to continue to keep you away from the expensive, cumbersome health care system. However, when you do need care, we are available to help get you back on track; and avoid trips to ER or urgent care.

Do you offer one time visits or walk-ins?

No, the best care comes from an ongoing and unrestricted relationship with your physician. While one time visits can treat disease, ongoing care prevents disease and helps you live a healthy life. We understand that monthly commitments can be daunting, and so we don't have any lock-in periods if the membership is not working for you.

Why a monthly fee?

The membership fee allows us to provide the vast majority of a person's primary care in an innovative way for a simple, fixed price. It allows members to better budget their healthcare finances; without worrying about extra costs, co-pays and deductibles for routine care.

Fewer Barriers to Care
In traditional primary care, patients save medical questions and health concerns for a single visit because getting in to see the doctor is difficult and expensive. This leads to subpar healthcare.
When there is no extra cost to see your doctor, you will seek care quicker, ask more questions, schedule more follow-up appointments, and be able to focus on prevention easier.
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​More Flexible Access
When patients pay per visit, it forces their doctors to bring them into the office for everything. With a membership, you can text your doctor, have a telemedicine visit from home, get care while on vacation, and more. Easier more flexible access leads to better health.

What if I want to leave the practice?

We want our patients to be thrilled with the care they receive, and so we do not have any contract lock-in periods. If patients are unhappy they are free to leave at any time. If you leave and want to re-enroll there will be a $200 re-enrollment fee.

Is this concierge medicine?

Dr. Schafer likes to say she offers concierge level care at an affordable cost. Concierge practices tend to charge a much higher monthly fee and often also bill your insurance for payment on top of their membership fee. Dr. Schafer wants her memberships to be affordable for people of all incomes, with or without insurance. She believes everyone deserves personalized and accessible care.

Is this an alternative medicine practice?

We think of our business model as an alternative to managed care medicine, but Dr. Schafer is a board-certified family physician (American Board of Family Physicians) and practices traditional, evidence-based medicine. She prefers to exhaust non medication treatment options prior to using medication and tends to be more conservative about ordering labs and imaging. She is a medical doctor (MD) by training and is working on continuing her education in alternative medicine treatments that would benefit her patients. She has no problem working with patients that are wary of traditional medicine as she practices shared decision making but is likely to recommend more traditional treatments.

Do you prescribe chronic narcotics or controlled substances (benzodiazapines, stimulants)?

There are many modalities available to help minimize pain of chronic conditions and aggressively work with people to achieve adequate comfort. Dr. Schafer is generally cautious and uses a conservative approach to using narcotic/opiate medications such as hydrocodone, Morphine, Lortab etc.  She will refer you to pain management specialists, physical therapy, and surgeons.

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In regards to psychiatric controlled substances, Dr. Schafer generally has a conservative and careful approach when using medications (particularly benzodiazepines such as Xanax or Valium and stimulants such as Adderall) in this area and strongly promotes the use of non-medicine therapies and lifestyle changes.