Really, it's like insurance in the sense that you're paying a monthly fee for access to the doctor. However, the relative cost is significantly lower than it is through insurance providers. Who would have thought that eliminating a middle man from a business transaction would mean better prices for a consumer and more profits from the service provider?
They do cover 80-90% of the visits you'd normally pull out your insurance card for; including perhaps 1/2 of your emergency room visits, as they're available 24/7 for urgent care.
And considering that dealing with insurance paperwork causes a major overhead expense (estimated to be 1/2 of primary care dollars http://dpcare.org/dpc), dispensing with that cost can result in much cheaper care.
