SageMED Select Plan

Dr. Sage Wheeler, Dr. David Deichert, and Dr. Tiffany Althaus. Marrie Ketchum, our fantastic therapist, also charges a monthly plan fee.

There are two fee options for the Select Plan:

Monthly: The monthly Select Plan fee is billed at $39.00.

Annual: We offer a 10% discount for Select Plan fees paid annually, bringing the total to $421.20 per year.

This fee enables our doctors to limit their practice to 250-300 patients, as well as reserve extra time each day for urgent care. By limiting our practices and leaving empty space on the schedule, this creates financial risk. These fees help to offset that.

Additionally, health insurance plans have many detailed and complex criteria for what is and is not a covered service. Many of the services patients have come to appreciate and expect are not covered by some insurance plans, including:

• Access to your provider through our SageMED App (messaging, scheduling, etc).

• Wellness discussions not related to a “medically necessary” condition, such as longevity or performance optimization. We love to discuss this, but insurance does not cover it. These discussions and recommendations are now included at no additional charge.

• Coordinating insurance and pharmacy authorizations and advocating for claim reimbursements. Current doctors do not get paid for this if it occurs outside of a 24 hour window of your visit. These services will be offered as part of the plan.

• Some insurance plans pay for telemedicine visits, which are very popular, but they pay 20-30% less than an office visit. Even if we were to have the exact same discussion in person. Because of this, some providers are hesitant to continue to offer this service. This fee ensures continued access to our telemedicine technology.

Instead of charging separate fees for these services, it is all included in one simple fee.

The $39 monthly retainer makes it possible for us to continue to provide exceptional primary care services with improved wait times, online patient portal access, the SageMED app, 10% off Fullscripts Supplements, Free shipping at WiseMEDS.com, and extended visit times as compared to industry standards. Doctors will also be limiting new patient flow, so as to not increase wait times for existing patients. We do not want a single person to feel left behind.

SageMED is a collaboration of independent physician practices, we simply provide administrative support for their practices. The providers listed above have a very high patient volume which creates excessive demands and time management burdens on the providers and staff. The monthly fee will allow the collaborative model of SageMED, providers and administrators alike, to continue to be as responsive as possible in meeting the high standards of patient care we have established for ourselves.

Our doctors already provide many additional benefits that are not customary for your typical primary care office. This program simply enables them to continue to do so at a sustainable rate. It has been nearly 5 years since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and since then we have been understaffed, overworked, facing rapidly increasing costs, and underpayment by most insurers (looking at you Aetna). We love to serve you and guide you through your healthcare journey, but our busiest doctors are facing potential burn out. At SageMED our first priority is patient care, but a close second is taking excellent care of our doctors and staff, and ensuring they can continue to practice in a lower stress and more rewarding environment than primary care doctors at other facilities.

There will be a limited number of spots available for each physician that is requiring a membership. The exact number is to be determined based on provider preference and administrative factors. It will likely be between 250-300. When the physician feels care is being compromised they will stop taking new patients. Anyone who is not a plan participant at this time will no longer be able to see that provider and we will direct you to one of our other care team members.

Just let us know which doctor you consider to be your primary physician. You will not have to enroll with both.

Of course! You only need to be a Select Plan participant at the time of your visit. However, keep in mind that these doctors are limiting their patient cohorts to 250-300 people, so there may not be a spot available if you choose to cancel and want to rejoin at a later time.

Absolutely, we have many fantastic doctors at SageMED that are not participating in SageMED Select at this time. Only the doctors with exceptionally high patient loads and demand are charging the fee.

Yes, you can save 10% by purchasing an annual plan lowering the cost to $421.20. A great choice for SageMED regulars.

Monthly subscriptions are $39 (this option is best for most people).

We have done our best to make this fee affordable, yet effective for its purpose. We do have a very limited amount of need-based scholarships available. Please reach out to your doctor directly to be requested for consideration.

To put it plainly, the American Healthcare system is not designed with patient care in mind. We rank 39th in the world for quality of healthcare, yet we spend far more than any other country. Our third party payer system is deeply broken. Most doctors are forced to work for large corporations that put profits and shareholders first, or are heavily burdened with bureaucracy and red tape. Most insurers/shareholders do not value preventive, comprehensive, whole person care, and primary care and pediatrics in particular has been long neglected. There are great people working in the insurance industry, but the system is not conducive to the outcome we all want.

As such, there is a shortage of primary care doctors, and a severe shortage of good ones. In 2021, there was recently a policy change that allowed primary care doctors to designate themselves as such with a unique billing code, and receive extra compensation for all the after hours work we do. This billing code, G1122, was a strong solution for America’s primary care problem. Unfortunately, a month after the solution was implemented, special interest groups were able to lobby congress for a 3 year moratorium to be placed on the national implementation of this billing code. As such, primary care providers are left with two choices: increase the amount of patients we see per day and allow double booking (which is why some offices have extreme wait times and short visits) or charge a small monthly retainer to be able to continue to the quality of care you have come to expect. Read more about the healthcare worker crisis here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/04/22/health-workers-covid-quit/