ALPHA-OMEGA DIRECT PRIMARY CARE, LLC

This is the solo practice of Board Certified Internist and Pediatrician, Dr. Tatiana Hamawi, M.D., where patient-centered care and seeing your own doctor at each visit is the norm. I have been blessed to be open for 20+ years. My patients see their own doctor every time and I am available to them 24/7. I can help you get back control of your health care by being available, accessible and caring. I give each patient the time they need to attend to their issues and know each one by name. I help you make decisions that are best for you, not your plan or the big pharmaceutical companies. I can save you money by teaching you how to shop for imaging, labs and medications without insurance. I can also help small businesses cut their health care expenses and keep their employees as healthy and productive as possible. In 2023, I am transitioning my practice to a direct primary care (DPC) practice, where I remove the insurance plan from the doctor-patient relationship and work directly for my patients. I am currently accepting new Direct Care Patients.

 

 


WHAT IS DIRECT PRIMARY CARE?

DPC is a growing healthcare model that puts patients at the forefront.

For a low monthly membership, your doctor works for you and not your insurance plan. It's that simple.

Benefits:

More about direct primary care:

2023 Patients’ Guide [DPC Explained]

DPCnation.org

DPC Is the Winning Formula — Dr. Josh Umbehr, AtlasMD (video)

 

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

 

SIMPLE AND LOW PRICING
Less expensive than your cell phone bill!

 

First person (any age) $109/month

Each additional person* $69/month

Family discount: 5th and 6th member free

*Max. 2 adults (age 26+) per family.

 

Registration fee:

$50 per person
$200 max per family

 

Established patients please call the office for pricing.
 

Monthly automatic payments by credit card or bank account required.

Email and internet access required to open an account.

Discovery phone call or meet and greet required to assure a good match.

Cancel any time in writing after the first three months.

Per requirement of the Insurance Commissioner, in-office and telehealth visits are limited to 12 visits per year, after that a nominal fee of $29 per visit applies. However, in this model, this is highly unlikely to occur. In all my years of practice, one person visited 12 times in one year.

Because I have a family too, a nominal $29 after hours/weekend fee may also apply for extensive medical consults or in-person visits.

FAQs

Still have questions? Send my office a text to 508-753-7700 or contact us.


SERVICES PROVIDED


Basic Primary Care


Complex Primary Care


Acute Care


Procedures

 

Detailed List of Included Services

 


SO, WHAT ABOUT INSURANCE? DO I STILL NEED IT?

A direct primary care practice membership is not an insurance plan. I will never bill your insurance plan for services. Membership covers only costs for services I provide in my office, not anywhere else. You will still need health insurance to cover unexpected, catastrophic health expenses.

You can choose a traditional health insurance plan of the PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) type with high deductibles. Higher deductibles tend to lower your premium and PPOs don't have the hassle of needing referrals. However, this remains a costly way of covering emergency unexpected health events because your premiums include the cost of your primary care needs. (Your home-owner's insurance doesn't cover expected maintenance and repairs of your house. Imagine the cost if it did?)

An alternative to traditional health insurance is to join a Healthshare plan. Health Share plans are not insurance. They are cost-sharing plans and essentially behave like catastrophic insurance plans. They are much less expensive because they don't cover your primary health care needs and are a good choice for those without chronic illness at the time of signing up.

Pairing a DPC membership with a Healthshare plan is a perfect match because both primary care and catastrophic care are covered at a reduced cost compared to traditional insurance plans. Please note, this combination does not avoid the Mass Tax Penalty. Nevertheless, the savings can be still be significant enough in some cases depending on your income. So, even if you can't avoid the penalty, you could still come out ahead.

Having a DPC membership can result in savings in the following ways which should be considered in your cost calculations:

  • seeing your DPC doctor instead of paying your deductible at urgent care centers or being sent to a specialist for things your primary can actually handle

  • reduced cost of labarotory expenses, imaging and pharmacy that we can find for you - for example, finding a $2200 MRI for only $350!

  • greater chance of not needing to take time off of work to have healthcare needs met because of increased access to your doctor

  • having healthcare needs handled quickly and efficiently

  • no surprise charges or bills that come months later

  • many other services provided at cost and not marked up prices, such as allergy treatments and vaccinations for adults

  • saving time by not chasing around for referrals and appointments

 


INSURANCE COMPATIBILITY

The following health plans are compatible* with my DPC practice and so if you have one of these, there are no limitations to joining:

Harvard Pilgrim

Health Plans Inc.

Mass General Brigham

Mass Health as a secondary only. Not if Mass Health is your primary insurance plan.

Medicare:
Part B
Part C PPO plans
Medicare gap programs

Tricare

UMR

Unicare

United Health Care

Various Health Share Programs (see above)
* PPO (Preferred Provider Orgnaization) and EPO (Exclusive Provider Organization) plans are preferred. Whereas, HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) and POS (Point of Service) plans, and Tufts Public Plans, are limited network plans and not the best choices to pair with a DPC membership. You could still become a member, but I am out of network with such plans and therefore I will not be able to process referrals that your insurance requires for you to see specialists or physical therapy etc.. In these cases, you will need to also have another provider in the plan network to do those for you. At this time, the IRS does not allow plans with HSA accounts (Health Savings Accounts) to be paired with DPC plans. Write your congressman to get this changed. You are allowed to use FSA accounts (Flexible Spending Accounts) to pay for the monthly membership fee.

What about these plans?

I still have insurance contracts with the following plans and so they are not yet compatible with my DPC program:

BCBS - open, accepting new insurance patients

Aetna - open to new patients, PPO plans only

Cigna - open to new patients, PPO plans only

Tufts Commercial - closed to new patients

Health New England - closed to new patients

Mass Health - closed to new patients

Multiplan - closed to new patients

Any other plans, please inquire with the office.

 


 

WHAT IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANY INSURANCE?

Though I do not advise that you have no insurance, you are eligible to join.

 

Still have questions? Send my office a text at 508-753-7700 or Contact us .

 

 

 

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