Payment & Insurance

Medicine@Downtown, Dr. Mark Unverzagt's medical practice in Albuquerque, New Mexico

I currently accept the following insurance plans:

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico (commercial and Centennial Care BUT NOT Medicare Advantage)
Presbyterian — all Presbyterian plans, including Centennial Care and Medicare Advantage
Medicare including Part B supplemental plans
United Health Care
GEHA
Molina
TriCare
CIGNA
Humana Medicare Advantage
True Health New Mexico

More details are outlined below.

To pay the practice fee now, jump down to Pay the Annual Practice Fee Online at the bottom of this page.

An annual practice fee is charged to patients who wish to join the practice. Its purpose is to cover physician’s expenses not covered by insurance. It gives you and Dr. Unverzagt the flexibility to orient your care around you rather than your insurance company.

same or next business day appointments when appropriate
24/7 access to Dr. Unverzagt (or another physician who covers the practice when he is out of town)
accessibility and flexibility in providing care
comprehensive wellness services
in-depth dietary and exercise advice for chronic disease management
international travel advice
specialty care coordination
home and/or office visits when indicated

The practice fee allows Dr. Unverzagt to keep the practice small which accomplishes two things. One, a small practice makes it much easier for patients to access care. Second, Dr. Unverzagt can provide a more flexible delivery system than that dictated by the insurance companies, including using email and telehealth visits when medically appropriate.

There are two ways to pay the bills in medicine today: 1) See as many patients as you can in a day while paying other people to do most of the work. Or: 2) Give patients a high quality relationship-based experience. The practice fee supports the quality-based model as opposed to the volume/quantity-based model.

The practice fee is determined by income level. Rates are discounted for couples and families to encourage my practice of family medicine. It is important to remember that the average national rate for a practice fee is approximately $1500 per person per year. In my practice, the highest fee is less than the annual cost of cable television. I am trying to balance fairness with an ability to keep my practice small and thus deliver the kind of care I feel people of all income levels deserve. My current rates for the annual practice fee are:

Practice Fee Chart Without a Donation to Undaunted Carnival Foundation

Previous Year’s Income for Residents of New Mexico

	Income of less than $40,000	Income of $40,000 or more
Individual	$375.00*	$660.00*
	Income of less than $60,000	Income of $60,000 or more
Couple	$550.00*	$1000.00*
Family	$600.00*	$1200.00*

* Includes Albuquerque, New Mexico Gross Receipts Tax

If you are paying the full practice fee (individuals making $40,000 or more or couples and families making $60,000 or more) you have the option of donating 10% of the practice fees to my foundation, The Undaunted Carnival Foundation. These contributions are tax-deductible.

Practice Fee Chart With a Donation to Undaunted Carnival Foundation

Previous Year’s Income for Residents of New Mexico

	Practice Fee	Donation
Individual	$590.00*	$60.00‡
Couple	$900.00*	$90.00‡
Family	$1000.00*	$150.00‡

* Includes Albuquerque, New Mexico Gross Receipts Tax
‡ Tax deductible

A separate payment of 10% of the total fee before the deduction needs to be paid in addition to the above payment. Check or credit card are accepted and you will receive a receipt for your tax records once the donation is paid.

Payment must be made at the time of service.

You can pay the practice fee either by sending a check by mail, or making an online payment at the bottom of this page. Mail checks to Medicine@Downtown, 925 Coal SW, Albuquerque NM 87102. Venmo via @drmarku is also acceptable.

If you wish to become a new patient, the answer is yes. I am only accepting new patients who are willing to pay the practice fee.

I will work with you, your family or your employer (if you are a small business without insurance or if your company if having trouble affording insurance) to make this clinic work for both of us.

Visits are billed in 15-minute increments with a 15-minute minimum. To calculate my rates, see the table below.

Cash, check, credit cards, PayPal and Venmo are all acceptable forms of payment. Payment must be made at the time of service.

Persons in family or household

Payment per 15-minute increment
based on previous year’s income for residents of New Mexico

Single	$40,000 or less	More than $40,000
Couple or partners	$60,000 or less	More than $60,000
Family (couple or partners + dependents)	$60,000 or less	More than $60,000
You will pay:	$50.00 for 15 minutes*	$75.00 for 15 minutes*

Annual fee based on income
* Includes New Mexico Gross Receipts Tax
+Annual practice fee

Pay Annual Practice Fee Online

Here are the steps for paying the practice fee online:

Use the drop down menu to select your category. You must click on the drop down menu first, then select a category. Do not click on Pay Now if you have not first selected a category manually.
Select your appropriate category.
Once your category is selected, then click on the Pay Now button.
If you get an error message, it is likely because you did not select a category first.
If you are paying with PayPal, you will be assessed a 2.9% processing fee that is listed as tax. It is not a tax. But it is the only way to add the processing fee charge.
All New Mexico gross receipts taxes are included in the total price of the annual practice fee.

Practice Fee

Donation to Undaunted Carnival

Make donation to Undaunted Carnival (if applicable)