Most articles on this question quote a range of $100 to $250 and stop there, which helps nobody standing in a parking lot deciding whether to go in. Here are Maxem Health’s published prices instead.
What Maxem Health charges
Maxem Health runs a Medical Discount Program built for people with no insurance or with a high-deductible plan that only covers hospitalisation. It is a membership, not insurance, and it works at participating Maxem clinics.
- Individual: $175 initial fee, which covers setup and the co-pay for your first visit, then $60 per visit
- Family of two: $250 initial fee, then $75 per visit per person
- Family of four: $450 initial fee, then $100 per visit per person
Several fixed-price services are published separately:
- DOT physical: $100
- Pre-employment physical: $35, excluding additional testing
- TB testing: $50
- Telehealth visit: $100 self-pay, or Maxem will bill your insurance
What the membership does not cover
Read this part before you sign up, because it is where surprise bills come from. The Discount Program excludes:
- Prescription medications
- DME such as crutches, splints and boots
- ER visits and hospitalisation
- Immunisations and vaccines
- Workers’ compensation
- Services performed by outside facilities, including specialists, referrals and lab work sent out of the clinic
- Rapid COVID-19 antigen testing
- DOT physicals and drug screens
Almost everything else done inside the clinic is covered, including X-rays. The membership also cannot be combined with billing your insurance for the same visit, and it cannot be used with any U.S. government plan.
What drives the total on a normal visit
Two things: the visit itself, and anything done during it. A provider looking at a sore throat costs less than a provider looking at a sore throat, running a rapid strep test, and taking an X-ray of your chest.
The services most likely to be added at a Maxem clinic are on-site X-ray, EKG, urinalysis, pregnancy testing and rapid lab work for COVID, flu, strep, RSV, H. pylori and mono. Ask what a test costs before it is run. Any clinic worth visiting will tell you.
If you do have insurance
Check the plan list first. Maxem Health accepts most major plans, including Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Cigna, Humana, United Health Care, Tricare, TriWest, Medicare, Mississippi Medicaid, Louisiana Medicaid, Magnolia Health Plan, Molina, Ambetter and Wellcare. If your plan is not listed, call (228) 223-1927 to check.
Ways to keep the bill down
- Go to urgent care instead of the ER when the problem is not an emergency. This is the single largest saving available to you.
- Ask about the Discount Program at check-in if you are paying out of pocket. The setup fee includes your first visit.
- Ask whether lab work stays in-house. Send-out labs are billed by the outside lab, not the clinic.
- Bring your medication list. It shortens the visit and prevents duplicate testing.
Frequently asked questions
Does urgent care make you pay upfront without insurance?
Self-pay patients are generally asked to settle at the time of service. At Maxem Health, Discount Program members pay their flat per-visit co-pay at check-in.
Is the Discount Program the same as insurance?
No. Maxem states plainly that it is not insurance. It is a membership that reduces the cost of visits at participating Maxem clinics, and it cannot be used alongside billing your insurance or with any U.S. government plan.
Are X-rays included?
Yes. Maxem lists X-rays among the services covered by the Discount Program. Lab work sent to an outside facility is not.
What is the cheapest way to be seen without insurance?
For most non-emergency problems, a walk-in urgent care visit under the Discount Program. Compare that against an emergency room, which bills for emergency capability whether or not your problem required it.
Walk in at a Maxem Health clinic
Maxem Health Urgent Care has 15 clinics across Mississippi, Louisiana and Oregon, open seven days a week including holidays. Most clinics run Monday to Saturday 8am to 8pm and Sunday 9am to 6pm, though hours vary by location. Ask about the Discount Program when you check in.
Save your spot at your nearest Maxem Health clinic, or find clinic addresses and hours.
This article is general health information, not medical advice. It does not replace an evaluation by a licensed provider. If you are worried about your symptoms, get seen.