Direct Primary Care and Lifestyle Medicine: Alex Sommers’ Prescription for Employer Health Plans

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of The Uprising Show, we sit down with Dr. Alex Sommers, Founder, President, and Medical Director of Astia Health and a former ER physician, for an unfiltered look at why the U.S. healthcare system is so complicated and who benefits from that complexity. Dr. Sommers shares his personal journey from feeling “complicit in the wrongdoing” inside hospital systems to building a new care model centered on advanced primary care, trust, and whole-person health.We discuss the chronic disease crisis, why patients and employers lose faith in the system, and how misaligned incentives drive up costs without improving outcomes. Dr. Sommers reveals how his team is helping employers rethink benefits, move upstream to prevent disease, and invest in healthier workforces, not just lower costs. He challenges common solutions, names the most overhyped trends, and explains why real change starts with rebuilding relationships between patients and care teams. If you’re searching for new ways to cut through the noise and make healthcare work, this episode is for you.Timestamps:00:00 Deciding to leave healthcare industry04:46 Moving to a Membership Model06:49 Focus on prevention and lifestyle medicine11:35 Optimism for future healthcare relationships15:21 Addressing Chronic Disease in HealthcareThe Uprising Show Website: https://theuprisingshow.com/Vivek Nanda's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/viveknanda1/Vivek Nanda's Twitter: https://x.com/vickksTopHealth Media Website: https://tophealth.care/“Disclaimer: Informational only. Not medical advice. Consult your doctor for guidance.”