How Small Employers Offer Direct Primary Care as a Benefit

Direct primary care started as something individuals bought for themselves. That is no longer where the growth is. According to Hint Health's 2026 industry report, more than half of all DPC memberships in the country are now paid for by an employer, and more than 7,000 employers offer one. The reason is arithmetic: a membership costs less per month than one urgent care visit, and a workforce with a doctor it can actually reach files fewer claims against the group plan.

What an employer buys

The employer pays a per-employee-per-month rate, usually between $55 and $125, and each enrolled employee gets everything an individual member gets: unlimited primary care visits, same-day access, direct messaging with the doctor, basic in-office testing, and wholesale prices on labs and generic medications. Practices commonly waive enrollment fees for groups and let dependents join at the individual child or spouse rate.

What it does not replace

A membership covers primary care at one practice. It is not a group health plan and does not satisfy any coverage obligation on its own. Employees still need coverage for hospital stays, specialists, surgery, emergencies and most prescriptions. The common structure is to pair DPC with a group or level-funded plan that carries a higher deductible than before, which lowers the premium, and let the membership absorb the everyday visits that would otherwise hit that deductible. Six of the practices in this directory sell employer memberships. None of them can advise on the group plan that sits beside it, which is what the coverage partner on each county page is for.

Northeast Florida employer rates

The HSA angle for employers

Under Public Law 119-21, effective 2026, a DPC arrangement charging $150 a month or less per individual is not treated as a health plan for HSA purposes. That means an employer can pair a DPC membership with an HSA-qualified high-deductible group plan without knocking employees out of HSA eligibility, and employer-paid fees are generally deductible as a business expense. Coastal Medical and Wellness is the only local practice whose employer page already spells this out.

What the practice will ask you

How many employees, where they live relative to the office, whether dependents will join, and whether you want the practice to handle enrollment or run it through your benefits administrator. Practices with capacity limits, such as Paradigm's published 300-patient cap per provider, will also want to know your group size before quoting. Bring your current plan renewal with you; the point of the exercise is to lower total cost, and that requires seeing both halves.