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Please note: Opening mid-November. Our clinic space is in final setup and not yet open to the public, so meet & greet appointments will be offered virtually or by telephone at this time. All visits must be booked online in advance. No walk-ins. Book a Meet & Greet

The explainer

What is direct primary care?

Here's the straightforward explanation in about four minutes.

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Invest in your health with a simple monthly membership. One flat fee covers comprehensive primary care direct from your provider: unhurried visits, direct access, and same-day or next-day appointments, with no copays, no deductibles, and no surprise bills arriving months later.

Traditional insurance practices require thousands of patients to stay afloat. The result? Rushed, 15-minute appointments leaving barely enough time to explain your main health concerns. By rejecting that high-volume model, we put you first. We intentionally cap our membership, ensuring our clinic stays small and manageable. By caring for a smaller panel of patients, we give you the time you deserve and tie our success entirely to your long-term health outcomes—not the number of visits we can bill.

Casta Townsley, FNP

“Traditional medicine profits from volume; we align our success with your clinical outcomes. Our practice is built on a simple truth: your lasting wellness matters far more than the number of visits we can bill.”

Casta Townsley, FNP Founder, Aspire Health

Common misconceptions

What direct primary care is not.

Most inquiries we receive come down to these three core points.

Direct primary care is not health insurance

A monthly membership is not a health plan and does not satisfy federal coverage requirements. It covers your everyday wellness, routine needs, and preventive care—not hospitalizations, major surgeries, or catastrophic medical events. Because of this, we strongly recommend that every member also carries at least a high-deductible insurance policy or a catastrophic health plan.

It is not concierge medicine

Concierge practices charge a membership fee and then also bill your insurance for each visit, which brings back the copays and coinsurance you were trying to escape. Direct primary care avoids insurance entirely, so the fee you see is the cost you pay.

It is not a discount plan

You are not buying a coupon card or a "discount medical program" that gets you a small percentage off at a third-party facility. You are investing in a direct, dedicated relationship with a provider who intentionally limits her patient panel to give you unhurried, focused time.

The money question

Does it actually save you money?

Honestly: it depends on what you use. Here is how to work it out for yourself.

  • If you have a high-deductible plan: you are likely already paying cash for primary care out-of-pocket. Every visit and every lab test is billed at high retail prices until you hit a deductible you may never reach. A membership replaces those unpredictable charges with one flat, predictable number. Stop avoiding care out of fear of meeting your deductible.
  • If you are underinsured or uninsured: the financial comparison is against urgent care and emergency room visits. A single emergency visit can cost thousands, making a flat monthly membership the far safer and more affordable option. You pay the exact same flat, transparent monthly membership—no hidden fees, no surprise bills—and you get the exact same standard of care, regardless of your insurance situation.
  • If you have a premium, low-deductible plan: if you have exceptional coverage and like your current provider, our model might not save you money. We value transparency too much to tell you otherwise. But time is money, and your time isn’t even a consideration in most cases under the current medical system. Stop wasting hours on phone trees, insurance hoops, and crowded waiting rooms.

The bottom line: no matter what the financial math looks like, joining is an investment in your health that gives you direct access and the unhurried time you deserve. That is the true value of a direct healthcare relationship—and it’s something a spreadsheet can simply never measure.

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For busy, insured families

Your time matters, too.

Your insurance card shouldn’t cost you a full day of work or a frantic family afternoon. If you already have solid coverage, the sticker price of a provider visit may not move you. What it doesn’t cover is the half day off work, the drive across town, the crowded waiting room, or the child pulled out of school for a five-minute question.

For working families and busy professionals in Anchorage, time isn’t just money. It’s the ultimate luxury, and traditional healthcare burns through it without a second thought. Traditional clinics treat your time as free because those lost hours never appear on their balance sheet.

At Aspire Health, we believe high-quality medicine should work around real life, not disrupt it. That’s why we built a direct care practice designed to respect your time as much as your health. Many concerns, from medication questions to lab follow-ups, can be addressed through secure messaging or a brief virtual visit, saving hours of unnecessary disruption.

Virtual access is designed to make care more convenient, not more chaotic. It is structured access, not an open hotline. Dedicated time for messaging and virtual visits allows your provider to respond thoughtfully while preserving the unhurried, focused nature of in-person care.

The usual way

At Aspire Health

Half a day off work for a 5-minute check-up

A 15-minute video visit from your desk

A $250+ walk-in clinic visit for a minor issue

A quick, secure message to your provider with a timely response

A week’s wait to find out if it’s even worth a visit

An answer before your lunch break is over

Everything else

The questions that come next.

What is Direct Primary Care?

Direct Primary Care is healthcare stripped of the clutter. It is comprehensive primary care delivered directly to you—without the insurance company standing in the middle. You pay a flat monthly fee directly to your provider, and in exchange you get unhurried visits, direct access, and same-day or next-day appointments, with no copays, no deductibles, and no surprise bills arriving months later.

By removing the middleman, the model provides complete price transparency and delivers essential services at a lower cost, completely independent of traditional insurance reimbursement.

How does the membership model work?

A flat monthly fee delivers complete primary care with total price transparency. Enjoy healthcare free from hidden fees, insurance paperwork, and surprise bills in the mail.

Think of it like a gym membership or a streaming service, but for your health. One predictable price, cancel any time.

What is included in my monthly membership?

Your membership covers your standard primary and preventive care needs. That includes unhurried appointments that last 30 to 60 minutes or longer if needed; direct access to call, message, or video-visit your care team; same-day or next-day visits when you are sick or need acute care; and proactive wellness planning built on lifestyle, nutrition, and mental well-being.

It also includes in-house blood draws and specimen collection, complimentary segmental body composition analysis, and simple office procedures.

Is this the same as concierge medicine?

No. Both charge a periodic membership fee, but a concierge practice also bills your insurance for each service rendered, which brings back the copays and coinsurance costs you were trying to escape.

Direct primary care keeps costs predictable and affordable by avoiding insurance entirely. Everything in your membership is included in the fee you already know about.

What if I'm healthy and rarely need care? Is a membership worth it?

Yes. Direct primary care is not only there when you are sick. Preventive and proactive care, lifestyle guidance, and health education are all part of your membership.

Your membership covers both long-term wellness and sudden illness. We are redefining healthcare to ensure personalized prevention is the starting point, not the afterthought. For a healthy person, value means proactive care—catching issues early and anchoring your future on a solid health foundation. Traditional medicine operates on a reactive model, stepping in only after something goes wrong. We completely flip that equation to focus entirely on keeping you well.

Who is part of the clinical team?

Alongside your provider, our clinical team includes Sydney Harris, a certified phlebotomy technician and medical assistant trainee who works under your provider’s supervision.

This structure ensures prompt answers to your questions and efficient handling of your administrative needs. Most importantly, it protects your provider’s time, keeping the focus entirely on your clinical care.

Do I still need health insurance?

Yes. Direct primary care is not insurance. It is a highly personalized way of delivering healthcare.

We strongly recommend that members maintain a high-deductible insurance plan, a health savings account, or a health share plan to protect against major, unexpected medical events such as catastrophic emergencies, major surgery, or specialized hospital care.

Do you take health insurance?

No. We have made a conscious decision not to accept or participate in any insurance products or programs, and the practice will not bill any insurance company for your care.

Your direct healthcare agreement is not health insurance. It is not a substitute for health insurance or other health plan coverage, and it does not provide the minimum essential coverage that may be required of you under federal law.

How do my membership fees interact with my insurance?

Because we do not participate in any insurance networks, we do not bill insurance companies for your visits.

Your membership fee covers everything we do inside our clinic walls. You can still use your traditional health insurance outside our clinic for standard healthcare expenses: preventative screenings like mammograms and colonoscopies, specialist referrals and physical therapy, advanced diagnostics such as MRIs, CT scans, and ultrasounds, and prescriptions filled at your local retail pharmacies.

Think of your membership as complete coverage for your everyday care, while your insurance remains a safety net for outside services, specialists, and catastrophic events.

Do you take Medicare patients?

Yes, we are open to Medicare patients. The practice and provider have formally opted out of the Medicare program.

What that means for you: you must enter into a private contract for medical services, and by doing so you agree that neither you nor your legal representative will submit a claim to Medicare for any services we provide. Federal law requires this separate documentation to be signed by every Medicare-eligible member before services are rendered.

What if I am uninsured?

You can still join. While we strongly encourage members to carry a high-deductible or catastrophic plan, it is not a requirement to be seen here.

We believe in health equality, which means reimagining healthcare access by making the highest standard of personalized care the baseline for everyone, regardless of insurance coverage or socioeconomic status.

Next step

Still not sure it is for you?

That is exactly what the meet-and-greet is for. Fifteen minutes, free, no card and no commitment. Ask anything, including whether you would be better off staying where you are.