FAQs

Almost every insurance health plan has co-pays and deductibles which must be paid to your provider in addition to what your insurance company pays your doctor using the premiums they collect from you, your employer, and other insured people.

We anticipate that most of our members will save money when combining The Doc Shoppe membership with a high-deductible health insurance plan compared to paying all those unexpected co-pays and deductibles to a primary care provider. Almost all of the costs of your primary health care needs are met with a low monthly payment.

Plus The Doc Shoppe has negotiated significantly discounted rates for other diagnostic services as well. Think of The Doc Shoppe membership program as an independent, supplemental and comprehensive way to obtain your primary healthcare.

Your membership at The Doc Shoppe is not based upon any of your existing medical issues or conditions. And, no, we do NOT have any income or health guidelines to prevent you from becoming a member. Our fees are the same regardless of your income, insurance arrangement, or level of health.

Your insurance plans will continue to operate “as usual” at other doctors' offices, hospitals and pharmacies. Some plans do not require a designated “gatekeeper” doctor for referrals, medications, tests, and the like, so The Doc Shoppe can order those services as needed just as any other doctor would do. Some HMO-style plans and KY Medicaid do require an “in-network” primary care doctor for access to other services, so these plans do not pair as well with membership in The Doc Shoppe.

No. However, membership can give you a similar peace of mind that your doctor is readily accessible. Membership in The Doc Shoppe is a great way to receive high quality primary health care, but we still believe insurance is helpful for unexpected emergencies and expensive events.

No. The Doc Shoppe does not contract with any private or public insurance plans.
If your health insurance plan allows for out-of-network coverage and reimbursement, then you most likely can submit claims. The Doc Shoppe can provide a receipt of your payment so that you can process it with your insurance plan. However, even if your insurance plan does not reimburse you for these services, you will most likely find our prices still save you money.

The Doc Shoppe is not a financial or health insurance advisor, but we expect that standard Doc Shoppe members with high-deductible (catastrophic) type health insurance plans will be very pleased with their arrangements when combined with our services. Also, members of healthcare cost sharing programs will find that their membership with those programs complement membership in The Doc Shoppe quite nicely. The Doc Shoppe can provide day-to-day services while a high deductible or a healthcare cost-sharing plan can help limit the enormous expenses of a major event. High deductible health insurance plans usually have 20-50% lower premiums than low-deductible (“co-pay”) type plans. Christian healthcare cost sharing plans (like Samaritan Ministries), while not insurance, have even lower monthly out-of-pocket costs.

We do not contract with Medicaid and do not bill them for our services. Unfortunately, Medicaid recipients may find it burdensome to join The Doc Shoppe, because they will likely also be assigned a "network Primary Care Physician (PCP)" that they may be required to see to access other health plan benefits and services.

The Doc Shoppe offers services to seniors, but we do not bill Medicare. Thankfully, Medicare honors referral requests from The Doc Shoppe for tests and treatments just like they would with any other provider.