Direct care: Doug Nunamaker, a physician with Atlas Medical, a direct primary care practice in Wichita, Kansas, discusses weight management, body mass index, and health issues with a patient, Jeanette Reeder. Atlas charges a monthly membership fee and does not bill insurers for the care it provides. Each physician in the practice sees about 500 patients-far fewer than most traditional practices.

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House call: Susan McCammon (right), a surgeon and palliative medicine physician at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, regularly visits patients such as Janice Bass, shown with her dog, Abbey, to manage treatment and support advance care planning.

Covid-19: Americans afraid to seek treatment because of the steep cost of their high deductible insurance plans Many insurance plans insist on an initial customer paid cost in any claim. However, during a pandemic, this high cost may be leading to danger, reports Charlotte Huff Charlotte Huff freelance journalist Physician Troy Fiesinger has become adept at relying on telephone calls and home monitoring to help some of his patients improve control of their diabetes, high blood pressure, and other conditions. It's the only alternative, he said, when the hefty initial costs of health insurance dissuade them from walking through his office door. "They restrict their care to save money even when they agree, 'Yeah, I should come in more,'" said Fiesinger, a Houston family physician. "I do my best to work with them. I'm not going to make someone spend money that they don't have."