For most patients, concierge medicine is worth it when three conditions are true: you have a chronic condition that needs active management, your time is genuinely valuable, and traditional primary care has stopped working for you. If those three describe you, the math usually works. If not, it usually doesn't.
I get asked this question all the time. Patients considering the switch, friends comparing healthcare options, people who've had one too many three-hour waits in a primary care office for a ten-minute visit. Here's how to figure out which category you're in.
TL;DR
- Concierge memberships range $1,500 to $25,000/year; mine is private-pay with the panel capped at 50
- Worth it when: you have chronic conditions that need active management, multi-week waits don't fit your schedule, OR traditional primary care has been failing you
- The cost is roughly offset by avoided urgent-care and ER visits in most active patients
- Insurance covers what happens to you medically; concierge membership covers who takes care of you and how
- Not worth it for: healthy patients with simple needs and no access frustrations
- To reach the practice: call or text 561-468-6981
What you're actually paying for
In a traditional primary care practice, a physician carries 2,000 to 3,000 patients. In a concierge practice, that number drops to somewhere between 100 and 400. In my practice specifically, I cap at 50. That panel-size difference drives everything else.
With a smaller panel, a physician has time. Time to know you. Time to think about your case rather than scan through it. Time to be reachable when you need them. That's the core value; everything else follows.
What that translates to in practice:
Same-day or next-day visits. Not "we have an opening in three weeks." When you're sick, injured, or worried, you're seen promptly.
Direct cell phone access. You have my cell number. Call or text any hour, including Sunday evenings, holidays, travel. You reach me directly.
Longer appointments. Standard primary care visits are 10 to 15 minutes. In my practice, annual physicals run 60 to 90 minutes. Follow-ups aren't rushed. Conversations actually finish.
Real preventive work. Detailed risk assessments, advanced labs when indicated, screening calibrated to your specific profile. Not defaulted to whatever the insurance checklist triggers.
Specialist coordination. When you need a cardiologist, orthopedist, or anyone else, I handle the referral directly, give the specialist context, and stay in the loop. I help you understand what they found.
House calls and telehealth. For patients who prefer not to come to an office, these are built into the practice, not upsells.
The hidden costs of traditional care
Traditional primary care looks cheap on paper. When you count what you actually spend, the picture is different.
Lost time from taking half a day off for a 10-minute appointment, plus the three weeks of wait before it. Urgent care and ER visits when your doctor can't see you in time, which run $200 to $2,000 or more per visit with insurance. Missed diagnoses and delayed action because rushed visits don't catch things early. Specialist referrals for problems a primary care doctor would have handled with more time. The stress of not being able to reach your doctor when something worries you.
Add it up over a year and traditional care often costs more in total than concierge does. It just doesn't show up on a monthly statement.
A useful way to think about the split: insurance covers what happens to you medically. The membership covers who takes care of you and how.
What you give up
Concierge care has real limitations worth being clear about:
Insurance doesn't cover the membership. The fee is out of pocket. You keep your insurance for everything else (labs, imaging, specialists, hospital care, prescriptions). My practice specifically is private-pay; I don't bill insurance for anything. Whether HSA or FSA funds apply depends on your administrator's interpretation; ask yours directly.
It's not emergency care. For life-threatening situations, call 911. Concierge care shines for everything below that threshold, which is statistically the bulk of healthcare interactions, but it doesn't replace emergency services.
It works best when you engage. Value compounds over time with an active relationship. Patients who show up for annual visits, respond to messages, and stay engaged with their care get dramatically more out of the model than patients who only call when acutely sick. If you want a doctor you see once every five years, concierge is overkill.
The actual math
Typical concierge fees are $2,400 to $6,000 a year ($200 to $500 a month), though the range extends in both directions ($1,500 at the low end, $25,000+ at the executive-tier high end). For my specific fee, ask me directly; I'd rather tell you in context than post a number.
What you tend to offset:
Urgent care visits. Average cost $100 to $200 out of pocket. If concierge access lets you call me instead of going to urgent care 5 to 6 times a year, that's a significant offset.
ER visits for non-emergencies. Average cost $1,200 to $2,500 or more in cost-sharing. A single avoided ER visit for something I could have handled by phone often covers a year's membership.
Lost work time. The average primary care visit consumes 2+ hours when you count travel, waiting, and the appointment. Same-day access and shorter waits recover substantial time.
Downstream cost of late diagnoses. Hardest to quantify, arguably most important. Conditions caught early cost a fraction of what they cost when caught late. One prevented hospitalization, one cancer caught at Stage I versus Stage III, one cardiovascular event prevented. The dollar and human value is real.
For a healthy 45-year-old professional paying $3,000 a year, the math often breaks even on avoided urgent care and ER alone, with the rest of the value coming from better care.
For a 60-year-old managing multiple chronic conditions, the math is clearer. Coordinated, attentive management of hypertension, diabetes, or heart disease prevents the expensive acute events that under-managed chronic conditions produce.
Back-of-the-envelope math for specific situations
The financial case looks different depending on the patient. A few concrete scenarios:
Patient with multiple chronic conditions. Currently has 4 to 6 primary care visits a year, 6 to 10 specialist visits, 1 to 2 ER visits or urgent care episodes, ongoing medication adjustments. Value of concierge care: earlier catches, better coordination, fewer ER visits, active medication management. For this patient, the avoided ER visits alone often cover the membership.
Seasonal resident from New York or New Jersey. Currently uses urgent care during Florida months for anything acute, sees a doctor only when something escalates. Typical pattern: 2 to 3 urgent care visits ($150 to $300 each) plus occasional ER visits ($1,500 to $2,500) over a winter. Value of concierge care: most of those visits never happen because there's a physician available who knows them. The math often works out.
Executive with a demanding schedule and no current chronic conditions. Uses primary care rarely; typically only when something is wrong and getting worse. Value of concierge care: real annual physicals that catch early metabolic and cardiovascular issues before they become chronic conditions, proactive prevention work. Financial value is harder to quantify in a single year, but the decade-out picture is better.
Generally healthy 30-something with simple needs. Current primary care is working well, no chronic conditions, good annual visits, rarely sick. Value of concierge care: limited in the near term. For this patient, DPC or a traditional plan is usually a better use of money.
For snowbirds specifically
Seasonal residents run into a specific cost calculation. When something goes wrong during your Florida months, traditional options include urgent care (roughly $150 to $300 per visit), the ER ($1,500 to $2,500), or calling your physician 1,500 miles away (often not much help). Fragmented emergency care over a single winter season can add up to significantly more than an annual concierge membership.
For Canadian snowbirds, there's added complexity. Provincial health coverage provides minimal support in the U.S. Travel insurance has meaningful limitations and exclusions. A local physician who knows your full history and can often prevent the situations that trigger expensive claims has real financial value.
For Medicare patients
Medicare covers your medical visits, labs, vaccines, and screenings exactly as at any other practice when your concierge physician participates in Medicare. The membership is a separate, additive cost that covers what Medicare never reimbursed: same-day access, longer visits, care coordination, house calls. (Full breakdown of how concierge medicine works alongside Medicare.)
What doesn't show up in the math
The financial analysis captures a portion of the value. Patients who've been with me for years typically don't talk about cost when they describe what they get. They talk about specific situations: the Saturday morning call that kept them out of the ER, the 45-minute annual that caught something early, the adult children feeling less worried because their parents have a real physician relationship in Florida.
Those things aren't easy to quantify. They're often why patients stay year after year.
Who this fits
Typically works out well for:
- Busy professionals whose schedules can't tolerate multi-week waits or half-day medical appointments
- People with complex or chronic conditions who need real coordination
- Patients 45 and older who are serious about preventive care
- Anyone on a high-deductible plan where primary care is already out of pocket
- Patients who've been frustrated by rushed, impersonal care and want a physician relationship
- Snowbird families needing continuity across two states
- Adult children coordinating care for aging parents
Often not the right fit for:
- Patients who rarely need medical care and are comfortable with occasional urgent care
- Those for whom the membership fee creates a meaningful financial strain
- Patients whose primary care is working well through a specific employer or health-system arrangement they value
How my practice works
I designed the model around what patients actually need: direct access, time, continuity, coordination. 50-patient panel. My cell phone for every patient. Same-day visits. House calls across Palm Beach County. Private-pay billing (no insurance billing) which keeps the relationship simple and the paperwork minimal.
This means I don't take everyone. For the patients I do take, you have a physician actually invested in your long-term health rather than processing you through a system.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is concierge medicine worth it for healthy people?
For prevention, yes, often. A concierge relationship gives healthy patients the time and access to catch problems early, optimize their risk profile, and build a proactive relationship before anything is wrong. Most of my members joined before they were sick.
What factors should I weigh?
How often you struggle to get appointments. How much time you lose to waiting or rushing through visits. Whether you have conditions that benefit from continuity. Whether the annual membership is reasonable relative to your total healthcare spending. For most patients who value access and time with a physician, it pays for itself when you add the numbers honestly.
Is concierge medicine tax deductible?
It's nuanced. Membership fees may be deductible as a medical expense if you itemize and your total medical expenses exceed 7.5 percent of your AGI. HSA and FSA eligibility depends on your administrator. Consult your tax advisor for your specific situation.
How does concierge care compare to traditional primary care?
Traditional primary care averages 10 to 15 minute visits with multi-week waits. Concierge offers same-day or next-day visits, 30 to 60 minute appointments, direct access, and proactive management rather than reactive sick care.
Who is concierge medicine NOT right for?
Patients who rarely see a doctor, are in excellent health with no concerns, or for whom the membership cost is a real financial burden. It's most valuable for patients who want an ongoing relationship with their physician and prefer direct access.
Does the membership replace my insurance?
No. The membership covers everything the physician delivers personally. Your existing commercial insurance or Medicare continues to cover everything outside the practice: labs, imaging, specialists, hospitalization, prescriptions. The membership fee is a separate, additive cost.
How do I evaluate whether a specific concierge practice is worth what they charge?
Panel size is the most important number to ask about (below 300 = real concierge access; above 600 = closer to a traditional practice with a membership fee). Then ask about direct cell access, what's included vs. billed separately, whether house calls are included, and how specialist coordination works. (Full evaluation criteria.)
About the Author
Dr. Ben Soffer, DO is a board-certified physician practicing concierge primary care in Boca Raton, Florida. He caps his practice at 50 patients, which is what makes the math above structurally possible: real same-day access, real coordination, real time per visit.
If you want to talk through your specific situation
If the model sounds like it might fit you, here's how to reach me:
- Call: 561-468-6981
- Email: info@drbensoffer.com
- Or reach out through the contact form
I'll walk through the specifics and tell you honestly whether it's the right fit or whether another option would serve you better.
