Before Amazon announced it was inking a deal to acquire One Medical, Decent finalized a partnership to add One Medical direct primary care providers as an in-network choice for our members in Texas. (Check out the press release here.) It's a big deal for small businesses and startups in Texas looking for more affordable ways to add employee benefits that matter (like health insurance that's decent).
Our One Medical partnership doubles our network of direct primary care providers. That means Decent can serve even more small businesses with our health plans that feature free direct primary visits while saving companies up to 35% on their employee health insurance costs not to mention payroll and outsourced HR services.
Who or what is One Medical?
One Medical is a membership-based primary care organization with nearly 200 locations across the country, including a half dozen in Austin, Dallas, and Houston. They are well known for their seamless digital health options and sleek clinics. Unlike traditional primary care clinics, their model is often an "add-on" subscription meaning it's an addition to and not an integrated part of health insurance plans. Until Decent, that is. Ours is the only health plan in the country featuring One Medical as Direct Primary Care providers. This is because we pay One Medical providers like they want to be paid – a monthly stipend to care for our members (versus a complex system of codes and claims like traditional primary care practices).
What's the big deal with direct primary care?
To explain the unique value of direct primary care requires us to take a step back and explain how it's different.
Traditional primary care is a fee-for-service model driven by health insurance contracts and networks. Think about it this way, your insurance premium, co-pay, and additional bills depending on what services are rendered (blood work, strep test, etc.), are how doctors are compensated. The process requires that physicians enter a code for each service and diagnosis, equating to at least three hours a day in doctor admin work. The complicated payment system requires health care groups to hire medical billing departments to ensure that the correct details are sent to health insurance companies for payment. (Is it any wonder that medical practice overhead has increased so much or that people have no idea how much anything costs in healthcare?!)
The patient experience of a traditional model is equally cumbersome. You book an appointment, maybe but not often get a same-day appointment, take time off work, wait in a waiting room...you get the picture. Your appointment lasts 16 minutes, just enough time to resolve your issue, right? Likely no. This cumbersome process is likely why you rarely contact your PCP in the first place.
Direct primary care, or DPC, is a membership model of primary care that removes the need for claims and other administrative work tied to traditional health insurance's fee-for-service structure. There are no codes entered, and no need to send paperwork to insurance companies. It's the type of primary care that doctors went to medical school to do — unobstructed patient care. DPC is the cornerstone of Decent's innovative approach to fixing healthcare for its small business clients. We believe the best type of healthcare is where nothing gets in the way between the provider and patient relationship.
DPC is gaining momentum in the U.S. as physician burnout, and health care costs climb. Over the last five years, DPC membership rates have increased 241%, according to Hint Health's 2022 Trends in Direct Primary Care report.
How does Decent offer such affordable health insurance?
As a professional employer organization (PEO), we can band small businesses and startups together to give them the size and scale needed to access the same level of benefits and HR solutions typically only available at larger enterprises. Essentially, we use scale and an exclusive health insurance plan to create affordability.
Of the nearly 500 PEOs in the U.S., Decent is the only PEO that built its own health plan, yet, another reason we're the most cost-effective PEO around.
Why does this matter?
Businesses across the board, especially the smaller-sized ones, have been hit hard by rising costs. Healthcare alone, which is typically the second-highest employee expense, continues to outpace wage growth, limiting small businesses and startups' ability to offer health care benefits. In 2021, annual premiums averaged $7,739 for single coverage and $22,221 for families — a cost that can quickly add up. It's also a cost likely to grow in 2023, with premiums for small business health plans expected to rise higher than in the prior two years.
With Decent PEO, businesses can save time and money — helping their bottom line while removing many HR headaches. Better health benefits can also help startups and small businesses recruit top talent. It's a win-win for everyone.
Are you interested in learning more? Contact a sales team member at hello@decent.com.
