"Is concierge medicine worth it?" is the most common question I get from prospective patients. It's the right question to ask. Here's the practical math from a few angles, along with the situations where it earns out and the situations where a different option fits better.
What traditional healthcare actually costs
Before looking at concierge fees, it's worth being honest about what traditional healthcare costs. The average American with employer-sponsored insurance pays roughly $6,500 to $8,000 a year in premiums alone. Add copays, deductibles, and out-of-pocket maximums, and total annual costs typically land between $10,000 and $15,000. That's for access to 7-minute appointments and multi-week waits for specialists.
The spreadsheet also misses hidden costs. Half a day off work for a routine physical. Specialist referrals that take six weeks to schedule. Medication errors that result from a physician not having time to review your full list. Emergency room visits that could have been avoided with a same-day primary care appointment. Published data suggests the average primary care patient gets less than 20 minutes of face time with their physician per year across all visits combined.
What you're paying for in concierge care
Concierge memberships range from roughly $1,500 to $25,000 a year depending on the practice. The variables: panel size, whether insurance is also billed, whether house calls are included, whether there are separate tiers.
In my practice, the membership covers:
- Same-day or next-day visits
- Appointments that run 30 to 60 minutes
- Direct access to my cell phone by call or text, any hour
- Specialist coordination I handle directly
- Proactive monitoring between visits
- Annual physicals that are actually comprehensive (60 to 90 minutes)
- House calls across Palm Beach County
My practice is private-pay; I don't bill insurance. The panel is capped at 50 patients.
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.
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.
When concierge isn't the right answer
Some honest situations where concierge doesn't fit:
- Young and healthy with no chronic conditions and no access issues
- Budget constraints that make the membership a real strain
- Simple needs that traditional or direct primary care handles well
- Rural or specific geographic situations where a concierge practice isn't practically reachable
I'd rather tell a prospective patient that their current plan is fine than enroll someone who won't benefit.
Where this lands
For patients with complex health needs, demanding schedules, aging parents to coordinate, a pattern of expensive acute care, or seasonal residence requiring continuity, the math usually works. For patients whose current system is serving them well, concierge is often not worth the money.
If you want to walk through your specific situation honestly, including the actual numbers, reach out. I'll tell you directly whether concierge fits your situation or whether something else would be a better use of your money.
