Running a small business in Wesley Chapel means making every dollar work. Healthcare benefits are one of the largest line items on your books, and for most small business owners, they are also one of the most frustrating. Premiums increase annually. Employees still struggle to get timely primary care. And the administrative burden of managing a group plan lands entirely on you.
Most business owners assume this is simply the cost of offering health benefits. It does not have to be.
Direct Primary Care is a membership-based healthcare model that removes insurance from the primary care equation entirely. Your employees pay a flat monthly fee and get unlimited access to a dedicated provider, same-day appointments, direct contact by phone and text, included generic medications, and telehealth. You get a fixed, predictable per-employee cost and a benefit your team will actually use.
It exists. It works. And most small business owners in this area have never been told it is available to them.
Maribel Dixon, MSN, APRN FNP-C
Direct Primary Care (DPC) is a membership-based healthcare model that eliminates insurance from the primary care equation entirely. Instead of routing primary care through an insurance system designed for hospitals and specialists, DPC puts a flat monthly membership fee between your employees and a dedicated provider who has time for them.
At South Beach Wellness Center, Maribel Dixon, MSN, APRN FNP-C offers employer DPC programs for small and mid-size businesses in Wesley Chapel, Land O’ Lakes, Lutz, and throughout Pasco and Hillsborough counties.
Small business owners carry the worst end of the group insurance market. You pay rates that reflect a risk pool you have no control over. Your premiums rise annually regardless of your employees’ actual health utilization. You manage the administrative complexity of enrollment, claims questions, and coverage disputes on top of running your business.
And the coverage you are paying for delivers a primary care experience your employees find frustrating to use.
The average wait time for a primary care appointment in the United States is over three weeks. Employees with something that should be handled at a primary care visit end up at urgent care instead, because urgent care is accessible today. Urgent care costs more. Their deductible absorbs it. Their productivity takes the hit of a two-hour midday trip they could have handled with a ten-minute telehealth call to a provider who knows them.
The system is expensive, slow, and administratively burdensome. It was not designed for small businesses, and it shows.
The average employer contribution to a group health insurance premium for a single employee in Florida runs between $500 and $700 per month for a mid-tier plan, before the employee’s own contribution. That number has increased an average of 5 to 8 percent annually for the past decade.
A DPC membership at South Beach Wellness Center for an adult employee is $100 per month. That covers unlimited primary care visits, direct provider access, telehealth, and included generic medications.
DPC does not replace insurance for catastrophic coverage, specialist care, or hospitalization. Most employers who implement DPC pair it with a high-deductible health plan, which carries significantly lower premiums than a comprehensive group plan. The DPC membership handles the day-to-day primary care layer. The high-deductible plan handles the unexpected large events.
The combination typically costs meaningfully less than a comprehensive group plan while delivering substantially better primary care access. Employers who have made this shift report healthcare cost savings of 20 to 46 percent compared to their prior group insurance model.
For a business with 10 employees, the math is straightforward. At $100 per employee per month, you are spending $1,000 per month on DPC memberships for your entire team. That is what comprehensive group insurance costs for roughly one and a half to two employees at current market rates.
The problem with most employer health benefits is utilization. Employees know they have coverage in theory. In practice, the friction of using it, the deductibles, the wait times, the phone trees, the referral requirements, means they defer care, manage symptoms without treatment, and come to work less healthy and less productive than they should be.
DPC removes every friction point from primary care.
Your employee wakes up with a sinus infection on a Tuesday. Under traditional insurance, they either wait three weeks for their primary care doctor, pay an urgent care copay after a two-hour wait, or push through and come to work anyway. Under a DPC membership, they text Maribel directly. She responds. They get a telehealth visit from their car at lunch. The prescription is called in. They are treated the same day.
That is not a hypothetical. That is what DPC access looks like in practice for patients who have it.
The downstream effect on your business: fewer sick days taken when an employee is not actually too sick to work but cannot get care quickly enough. Fewer full-day urgent care absences. Faster recovery from illness because it gets treated immediately rather than after it has progressed. More consistent management of chronic conditions that would otherwise cause recurring acute episodes and absences.
Employees who have access to a provider they can actually reach, who knows them and their history, show up to work differently than employees navigating a system that treats them like a claim number.
The labor market in Wesley Chapel, Land O’ Lakes, and the broader Tampa Bay area is competitive for small businesses. You are not just competing with other small businesses for talent. You are competing with larger employers who offer benefits packages you cannot match at your scale.
DPC changes that equation for primary care specifically.
A DPC membership delivers a healthcare experience that most large employer health plans do not provide. Direct provider access, same-day appointments, a provider who knows the employee by name, no copays for primary care visits, included medications. These are not standard features of a group health plan at any price point. They are features that employees who experience them consistently describe as transformative.
When you offer DPC to prospective employees, you are not offering the same benefit everyone else offers. You are offering something meaningfully better for day-to-day healthcare, at a cost structure that is sustainable for a small business.
For current employees, a DPC benefit improves satisfaction and reduces turnover in a way that standard health insurance, even good health insurance, does not. Employees who have a provider they trust and can access do not want to lose that relationship. It creates a retention dynamic that goes beyond a benefit checkbox on an offer letter.
DPC employer programs at South Beach Wellness Center work well for a range of small business types and sizes.
If you have been unable to offer health benefits because group insurance is cost-prohibitive at your scale, DPC is often the first viable option. A $100 per employee per month benefit is achievable for businesses that could not sustain a group insurance premium contribution.
If you are currently offering group insurance and absorbing annual premium increases, the DPC plus high-deductible plan combination can reduce your total health benefit spend while improving the primary care experience your employees receive.
Restaurants, construction, trades, retail, healthcare support, any business where your people need to be physically present and physically capable on a daily basis has a direct financial stake in how quickly their employees access and receive care.
Employees with diabetes, hypertension, thyroid disorders, and other chronic conditions benefit most dramatically from DPC access. Consistent monitoring, direct provider contact, and included medications reduce the acute episodes and absences that chronic conditions produce when they are poorly managed.
Our office at 2975 Allegra Way in Lutz sits directly between Wesley Chapel and Land O' Lakes, just north of Tampa Premium Outlets. Employees across Pasco and Hillsborough counties can reach us easily in person, and telehealth is included for visits that do not require an in-person exam.
Getting your team enrolled in a DPC employer program is significantly simpler than administering group insurance.
You contact our office to discuss your team size, your current benefit structure, and what you are trying to accomplish. Maribel and her team walk you through the program structure and per-employee pricing based on your specific situation.
Enrollment is straightforward. Each employee enrolls with a one-time $65 enrollment fee and a monthly membership. From the day they are enrolled, they have direct access to Maribel by phone and text and can book same-day or next-day appointments.
There is no claims administration on your end. No network management. No annual enrollment complexity. No mid-year billing surprises. You pay a fixed monthly amount per enrolled employee. That is the entire administrative footprint.
For businesses pairing DPC with a high-deductible health plan, our team can walk you through how the two layers work together and what your employees need to understand about using both appropriately.
Contact our office directly for employer pricing. Program cost is based on employee count and plan selection.
A common question from business owners is whether DPC replaces their existing insurance or works alongside it.
DPC is not health insurance. It does not cover hospitalizations, specialist care, emergency room visits, imaging, or surgical procedures. It is the primary care layer of your employees’ healthcare, handled outside the insurance system entirely.
Most employers who implement DPC keep a health insurance plan in place for the coverage DPC does not provide. The strategic shift is moving from a comprehensive group plan with high premiums to a high-deductible plan with lower premiums, using DPC to handle the day-to-day primary care needs that would otherwise be routed through insurance.
High-deductible plans carry lower monthly premiums precisely because they are designed for catastrophic and specialty coverage rather than routine care. When DPC handles routine care directly, the high-deductible plan is rarely triggered and the premium savings are substantial.
Some employers offer DPC as a standalone benefit without pairing it with a group plan, particularly for part-time employees or employee categories not currently receiving health benefits. This is a meaningful upgrade to compensation for employees who currently have no employer-sponsored health benefit of any kind.
Maribel discusses both approaches with you at your consultation and helps you understand which structure fits your current benefit setup and budget.
What is the minimum number of employees to set up an employer program?
There is no minimum. We work with businesses of all sizes, from sole proprietors adding coverage for themselves and a small team to mid-size employers with larger headcounts. Contact our office to discuss your specific situation.
Does DPC replace health insurance?
No. DPC replaces the primary care layer of your employees’ healthcare. It does not cover hospitalization, specialist visits, emergency care, imaging, or surgery. Most employers pair DPC with a high-deductible health plan that covers those categories. The combination typically costs less than a comprehensive group plan and delivers better primary care access.
How much does the employer program cost?
Pricing is based on employee count and plan selection. Individual adult DPC memberships are $100 per month. Employer program pricing is discussed directly with our office. Contact us for a custom quote based on your team size.
What happens when an employee needs a specialist or hospital care?
DPC covers primary care. For specialist referrals, hospitalizations, or other care beyond primary care scope, the employee uses their existing health insurance or high-deductible plan. Maribel coordinates referrals and communicates with specialists on behalf of DPC patients when needed.
Can employees use DPC for their families?
Yes. Individual family members can enroll at standard membership rates. Children ages 6 through 17 enroll at $50 per month. Family memberships covering two adults and two children are available at $250 per month. Employer programs can be structured to include family coverage.
What if an employee leaves the company?
The employee can continue their DPC membership as an individual at standard rates. The membership is not tied to their employment status. Some employers choose to let departing employees maintain their membership through the end of the billing period as part of an offboarding benefit.
Is there a contract or long-term commitment?
Memberships can be cancelled with 30 days written notice. There is no long-term contract requirement. The one-time $65 enrollment fee applies per employee at initial enrollment.
Do you offer telehealth for employees who work remotely or at multiple locations?
Yes. Telehealth visits are included in every adult DPC membership at no additional cost. Employees anywhere in Florida can use telehealth for visits that do not require an in-person exam.
Do employees have to live or work near your office?
No. Telehealth is included and available to employees throughout Florida. For employees who prefer in-person visits, our Lutz office is accessible from across Pasco and Hillsborough counties.
If you are a business owner in Wesley Chapel, Land O’ Lakes, Lutz, or the surrounding area and you are tired of watching your insurance premiums go up while your employees struggle to access care, we want to have that conversation.
There is no obligation. You tell us about your team and your current situation. We tell you exactly what a DPC employer program would look like and what it would cost. You decide whether it makes sense
South Beach Wellness Center | 2975 Allegra Way, Lutz, FL 33559 | Serving businesses throughout Wesley Chapel, Land O’ Lakes, Lutz, New Tampa, Zephyrhills, Trinity, Odessa, and Pasco and Hillsborough counties
