HITLAB Team • March 3, 2025
The Crisis of Uninsured and Underinsured Populations
The consequences of inadequate healthcare coverage are profound, with nearly 57% of underinsured individuals forgoing essential care and 41% experiencing worsened health due to delayed treatment1. Furthermore, KFF’s 2024 polling data reveals that 41% of U.S. adults have medical debt and roughly three-quarters are concerned about affording unexpected medical bills3.
The consequences of inadequate healthcare coverage are profound, with nearly 57% of underinsured individuals forgoing essential care and 41% experiencing worsened health due to delayed treatment1. Furthermore, KFF’s 2024 polling data reveals that 41% of U.S. adults have medical debt and roughly three-quarters are concerned about affording unexpected medical bills3.
Primary Care: A Cornerstone of Effective Health Management
Primary care plays a crucial role in maintaining overall health by delivering preventive and routine healthcare services that reduce the need for costly interventions. In 2019, Americans made 1.0 billion visits to office-based physicians, with almost half of those visits being to primary care providers 4. Research has shown that improved primary care access, along with adequate insurance coverage, can reduce preventable emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations5-9.
MyPhysicianPlan: Redefining Affordable Healthcare Solutions
MyPhysicianPlan offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional insurance, designed to support those underserved by existing systems. Members gain access to flexible healthcare plans that include in-person doctor visits, telehealth consultations, lab tests, prescriptions at reduced rates, and lower out of pocket costs for specialist and hospital-based services.
For U.S. residents,
- The Routine Medical Care Plan provides unlimited in-person and telehealth consultations for general health, chronic illnesses, and pre-existing conditions.
- The FlexCare Plan integrates routine healthcare with membership in a cost-sharing pool, providing coverage for unexpected medical expenses outside of primary care settings, ensuring additional financial protection.
For travellers visiting the U.S.,
- MyPhysicianPlan offers the Primary Care Plan, covering routine physician visits, lab tests, and prescriptions
- The Premium Comprehensive Travel Plan, utilizing the United Healthcare network, includes emergency services and specialist consultations for broader medical coverage, in addition to primary care services.
For businesses in the U.S.,
- Businesses also benefit from MyPhysicianPlan’s affordable healthcare solutions, which reduce costs compared to traditional insurance. This approach fosters a healthier workforce and promotes financial sustainability for employers.
Maximizing Value and Efficiency for Healthcare Providers
MyPhysicianPlan helps healthcare providers build long-term patient relationships by ensuring consistent access to care while guaranteeing timely payment for services. By eliminating pre-authorization requirements, it reduces administrative burdens, allowing providers to focus on patient care. Payment processing is streamlined with automated, same-day compensation, eliminating billing complexities such as denials and rejections. Additionally, providers benefit from joining a network committed to reducing healthcare disparities and fostering collaboration, health equity, community impact, and professional growth.
Breaking Financial Barriers with Lab and Prescription Savings
In addition to ensuring affordable primary care visits, MyPhysicianPlan extends cost savings across all primary healthcare needs, including lab tests and medications. Surveys show that high medical expenses force one-third of the U.S. population with chronic conditions to skip prescribed medications1, while uninsured patients face costs ranging from $100 to over $1,000 for common lab tests10.
To address these financial challenges, MyPhysicianPlan leverages strategic partnerships with Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) and leading laboratories such as LabCorp, offering substantial savings to patients. Members pay less than 20% of the standard lab test fees, significantly reducing out-of-pocket expenses for diagnostics. In one specific primary care practice location alone, members saved over $24,000 in lab costs in 2024. Additionally, the MyPhysicianPlan Rx Savings card provides up to 90% off prescription medications, with discounts varying by drug and pharmacy location. Members have saved over $200,000 in the last year through the PBM partnerships. These savings are critical benefits that differentiate the platform by providing comprehensive solutions beyond just doctor appointments.
HITLAB’s Assessment of the MyPhysicianPlan Platform
HITLAB conducted a comprehensive evaluation of MyPhysicianPlan, analyzing its design, functionality, and usability to ensure it effectively serves patients, travelers, providers, employers, and travel insurance agents. Employing a human-centered heuristic approach, HITLAB examined the platform’s real-world impact and its potential to enhance healthcare access.
The evaluation highlighted several key strengths, including clear language, intuitive workflows, progress indicators, and strong error prevention mechanisms. MyPhysicianPlan enables members to easily search for providers, request appointments, and manage their healthcare journeys. For providers, the platform facilitates real-time verification of a patient’s healthcare plan status and simplifies enrollment through automated email invitations. HITLAB also offered recommendations for further improvements, such as integrating visual dashboards, automatic notifications, and enhanced progress indicators to improve the user experience.
“At HITLAB, we are committed to evaluating and advancing digital health solutions that promote equitable access to care. MyPhysicianPlan streamlines healthcare navigation for both patients and providers. Our assessment provided strategic insights to enhance its usability, ensuring it remains a valuable resource in the evolving healthcare landscape,” said Stan Kachnowski, Chair, HITLAB.
Building an Accessible, Affordable, and Sustainable Healthcare Future
MyPhysicianPlan offers an innovative and cost-effective approach to addressing the healthcare access challenges faced by millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans. Through flexible membership plans tailored for individuals, businesses, and travellers—along with substantial savings on lab tests and prescriptions—the platform reduces financial barriers to care while supporting healthcare providers in optimizing operations and enhancing patient engagement.
With its growing provider network and continuous improvements based on HITLAB’s recommendations, MyPhysicianPlan is paving the way for a more inclusive, accessible, and sustainable healthcare system.
About MyPhysicianPlan
MyPhysicianPlan is an innovative healthcare platform that enables access to premium care through flexible, affordable payment plans and reduces red tape and overhead for the providers. Tailored to meet the unique needs of both US residents and international visitors, as well as small businesses, the platform lowers traditional financial barriers to high-quality healthcare.
References
- Commonwealth Fund. (2024). The state of health insurance coverage in the U.S.
- Office of Health Policy. (2024, March 22). Health coverage under the Affordable Care Act: Current enrollment trends and state estimates (ASPE Issue Brief No. HP-2024-08).
- Lopes, L., Montero, A., Presiado, M., & Hamel, L. (2024, March 1). Americans’ challenges with health care costs. Kaiser Family Foundation.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Physician office visits. National Center for Health Statistics. Retrieved February 27, 2025
- Pinchbeck, E. W. (2019). Convenient primary care and emergency hospital utilisation. Journal of health economics, 68, 102242.
- Solberg, L. I., Ohnsorg, K. A., Parker, E. D., Ferguson, R., Magnan, S., Whitebird, R. R., … & Ziegenfuss, J. Y. (2018). Potentially Preventable Hospital and Emergency Department Events: Lessons from a Large Innovation Project. Permanente Journal, 22(3).
- Weissman, J. S., Gatsonis, C., & Epstein, A. M. (1992). Rates of avoidable hospitalization by insurance status in Massachusetts and Maryland. Jama, 268(17), 2388-2394.
- O’Lawrence, H., Vargas, A., Martinez, L., & Perley, R. M. (2024). Impact Of Primary Care Utilization And Insurance On Emergency Department Visits. J Comm Med and Pub Health Rep, 5(04).
- Rust, G., Baltrus, P., Ye, J., Daniels, E., Quarshie, A., Boumbulian, P., & Strothers, H. (2009). Presence of a community health center and uninsured emergency department visit rates in rural counties. The Journal of Rural Health, 25(1), 8-16.
- Vuong, K. T. (2025, February 27). Lab tests cost with and without insurance. Mira.
Learn more about
Share the article:
Category:
Tags:
