Health insurance copays aren’t the bargain they used to be, and a growing number of patients are discovering they can see a doctor for less by skipping insurance entirely. Sesame telehealth is built around this idea: a direct-pay marketplace where you book virtual visits at transparent, upfront prices without involving your insurance company. Visits start as low as $29 for a general consultation, undercutting most insured copays. With the average employer-sponsored plan copay now at $26 for primary care and $44 for specialists, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Sesame’s pricing is genuinely competitive even for insured patients. For a broader overview of how virtual care fits into the current landscape, see our complete telehealth guide.
What Is Sesame and How Does It Work?
Sesame is a healthcare marketplace that connects patients directly with doctors, nurse practitioners, and specialists at pre-negotiated cash prices. Think of it as the airline-booking model applied to medicine: providers set their own prices, and patients choose based on cost, ratings, and availability.
Unlike insurance-based telehealth platforms (Teladoc, Optum Virtual Care, MDLIVE), Sesame doesn’t bill your insurer. You pay the listed price at booking, and that’s it. There are no surprise bills, no claims to file, and no deductible to satisfy first. This model appeals particularly to uninsured patients, those on high-deductible health plans who haven’t met their deductible, and anyone who finds their insurance copay is higher than Sesame’s cash price.
The marketplace model means Sesame itself doesn’t employ doctors. Instead, independent providers create profiles, set their availability, and determine their prices. Sesame takes a platform fee, similar to how Airbnb connects hosts and guests. This creates price competition among providers, which tends to push prices down. It also means the experience can vary: some providers are excellent, others less so, and the responsibility of choosing falls on you.
Sesame Telehealth Pricing Breakdown
Pricing is Sesame’s strongest selling point. Here are typical costs for common virtual visit types as of early 2026:
- General medical consultation: $29 to $49
- Urgent care visit: $39 to $59
- Mental health therapy (45-60 min): $69 to $129
- Psychiatry consultation: $99 to $199
- Dermatology consultation: $59 to $99
- Prescription refill visit: $29 to $39
- Women’s health consultation: $35 to $59
- Weight loss consultation: $49 to $99
These prices are all-inclusive. There’s no membership fee, no subscription required, and no hidden charges. You see the exact price before booking, and you’ll never receive a surprise bill weeks later. Compare this to the average insured copay of $20 to $50 for a primary care visit, and the math often favors Sesame, especially for patients who haven’t met their deductible. On a high-deductible plan, you’d pay the full contracted rate ($100 to $200+ for a specialist visit) until reaching your deductible. Sesame sidesteps that calculation entirely.
Our healthcare costs guide explains how deductibles and out-of-pocket spending affect what you actually pay for care. Understanding this helps you decide whether Sesame’s cash prices or your insurance benefits offer the better deal for each specific visit.
Services Available on Sesame
Sesame’s telehealth offerings cover a wide range of medical needs, though the platform also offers in-person visits in select metro markets. On the virtual side, available services include:
Primary care and urgent care: Cold and flu, sinus infections, UTIs, allergies, rashes, headaches, digestive issues, and similar common complaints. Providers can diagnose, prescribe medications, and order lab work through partnering lab networks like Quest Diagnostics and Labcorp. For UTI-specific guidance, see our detailed article on getting an online UTI prescription.
Mental health: Individual therapy with licensed counselors and psychologists, plus psychiatry for medication management. Sesame’s therapy rates ($69 to $129 per session) are notably lower than many dedicated mental health platforms like BetterHelp (typically $80 to $100 per session billed weekly, requiring a subscription) and Talkspace ($69 to $109 per week). Sesame’s pay-per-session model means no subscription commitment.
Dermatology: Live video consultations for acne, eczema, psoriasis, suspicious moles, rosacea, and other skin conditions. Some dermatologists on Sesame also offer asynchronous consultations at lower prices, where you submit photos and receive a diagnosis within 24 to 48 hours.
Sexual and reproductive health: Birth control consultations and prescriptions, STI testing orders, erectile dysfunction treatment, and UTI treatment. These sensitive topics benefit from the privacy and convenience of telehealth.
Chronic disease management: Follow-up visits for diabetes, hypertension, thyroid conditions, asthma, and other ongoing health concerns. This is especially useful for patients between insurance plans or those whose deductible makes regular visits expensive. Providers can adjust medications, review lab results, and monitor progress without an in-person visit.
Lab and imaging orders: Sesame providers can order blood work, urine tests, and imaging studies that you complete at a local lab. Some lab tests are available at bundled prices through Sesame’s partnerships, often cheaper than what your insurance’s contracted rate would be pre-deductible.
Provider Quality and Experience
One concern patients have about low-cost care is whether quality suffers. Sesame addresses this by displaying each provider’s credentials, board certifications, years of experience, patient ratings, and the number of completed visits on the platform. Most providers on Sesame are experienced clinicians who also practice in traditional healthcare settings and use Sesame to fill open appointment slots or build a direct-pay practice on the side.
Patient reviews are visible on each provider’s profile, and Sesame reports an average rating above 4.8 out of 5 across its platform. However, self-selection bias plays a role: patients who are satisfied are more likely to leave reviews. We recommend filtering for providers with at least 50 completed Sesame visits and reading recent reviews to get a realistic picture of the experience.
Sesame verifies all provider credentials, including medical licenses, board certifications, DEA registrations, and malpractice histories. Providers must maintain active, unrestricted licenses in the states where they practice. This vetting process aligns with what insurance networks require of their participating providers, so the quality floor is the same.
The marketplace model does create variability. Some providers are highly responsive, thorough, and skilled at telehealth communication. Others may rush through visits or have less polished bedside manner on camera. The ability to read reviews and choose your provider mitigates this risk, but it requires some effort on your part. Once you find a provider you trust, you can rebook with them directly for future visits.
Sesame vs. Insurance-Based Telehealth
The choice between Sesame and your insurer’s telehealth platform depends on your financial situation and how you use healthcare.
If your employer plan offers $0 copay telehealth through UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, or Cigna, using that benefit is the cheaper option. You can’t beat free. But if you’re on a high-deductible plan and haven’t met your deductible, Sesame’s $29 visit beats paying the $75 to $150 contracted rate that would apply toward your deductible.
Sesame also wins on transparency. You see the exact price before booking with no ambiguity about what your plan covers, what’s subject to the deductible, and whether the provider is actually in-network. Insurance-based telehealth can involve surprise bills when a provider turns out to be out-of-network, when services aren’t covered under your plan’s telehealth benefit, or when additional services billed during the visit exceed what you expected.
The trade-off is that Sesame visits don’t count toward your deductible or out-of-pocket maximum. If you’re close to meeting your deductible, it may make strategic sense to use your insurance for telehealth visits so those costs accumulate toward your annual limit. This is a real consideration for anyone with a chronic condition who expects to hit their deductible and then enjoy lower cost-sharing for the rest of the year. For more on this calculation, see deductible vs. out-of-pocket maximum.
Another consideration: insurance-based telehealth visits generate records in your insurer’s system, which facilitates care coordination. Sesame visits are independent, so you’ll need to share records with your PCP manually if you want continuity.
Sesame vs. GoodRx Care
GoodRx Care is Sesame’s closest competitor in the cash-pay telehealth space. Both serve patients who prefer transparent pricing without insurance involvement, but the models differ in important ways.
GoodRx Care uses flat-rate pricing by condition ($25 to $75), while Sesame’s prices vary by provider. GoodRx often uses an asynchronous model (questionnaire-based, no live video), which is faster but less interactive. Sesame uses live video visits as the default, allowing more thorough evaluation. GoodRx’s integrated prescription discount coupons are a unique advantage for medication costs, automatically showing the cheapest pharmacy for your prescription.
Sesame offers broader services, including specialist consultations, mental health therapy, and chronic disease management, that go beyond GoodRx Care’s more focused condition list. For ongoing care relationships, Sesame’s ability to rebook with the same provider is a meaningful advantage over GoodRx’s assigned-provider model.
Limitations of Sesame Telehealth
Sesame doesn’t accept insurance. This is a feature for some patients and a drawback for others. If you have generous telehealth benefits, paying cash on Sesame means leaving your insurance benefit unused and getting no credit toward your deductible.
Provider availability varies by state. While Sesame operates in all 50 states for telehealth, the selection of providers is thinner in some regions, particularly for specialty care. Urban areas tend to have the widest range of options, with more providers, lower prices, and greater appointment availability.
Controlled substance prescribing is limited. Like all telehealth platforms, Sesame providers must follow DEA prescribing regulations, which restrict initial prescriptions for Schedule II controlled substances via telehealth. Some psychiatric medications, including stimulants for ADHD, may require an in-person evaluation before they can be prescribed.
Sesame visits don’t integrate with your insurer’s care management programs. If you’re enrolled in a disease management or wellness program through your insurance, Sesame visits won’t be visible to those programs unless you manually share records.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Sesame accept insurance?
No. Sesame is a cash-pay marketplace. You pay the listed price at booking, and the platform does not bill your insurance. You may be able to submit a superbill (a detailed receipt) to your insurer for potential out-of-network reimbursement, but coverage is not guaranteed and depends on your plan’s out-of-network benefits.
How does Sesame’s pricing compare to GoodRx?
Sesame and GoodRx virtual visits both offer cash-pay telehealth, but their models differ. Sesame is a marketplace where individual providers set prices, starting as low as $29. GoodRx Care charges flat rates by condition ($25 to $75). Sesame tends to offer lower starting prices for general consultations and more provider choice, while GoodRx’s prescription discount integration is a unique advantage.
Can Sesame doctors prescribe medication?
Yes. Sesame providers can prescribe most non-controlled medications, including antibiotics, antivirals, blood pressure medications, thyroid medications, birth control, and antidepressants. Controlled substances are subject to DEA regulations and may require an in-person visit.
Is Sesame good for mental health care?
Sesame offers competitive pricing for therapy ($69 to $129 per session) and psychiatry ($99 to $199). These rates undercut dedicated subscription platforms like BetterHelp and are comparable to or cheaper than many insurance copays for behavioral health visits. The pay-per-session model means no long-term commitment.
Can I see the same provider on Sesame each time?
Yes. Once you find a provider you like, you can rebook with them directly through the platform. This allows you to build an ongoing relationship and maintain continuity of care, which is particularly important for mental health treatment and chronic disease management.
The Bottom Line
Sesame telehealth is a strong option for patients who want transparent, low-cost virtual care without the complexity of insurance billing. It’s particularly valuable for uninsured patients, those on high-deductible plans who haven’t met their deductible, and anyone whose insured copay exceeds Sesame’s cash prices. Before your next virtual visit, compare Sesame’s price for your specific service against your insurance copay. Do the math on whether paying cash or using your insurance offers the better deal. For many patients, especially early in the plan year when deductibles haven’t been met, Sesame wins on both price and transparency.