For healthcare practices holding more than $400K in operating cash, the standard FDIC limit of $250,000 per depositor leaves most of your working capital uninsured. Getting to $10M in coverage isn't complicated. It just requires the right kind of banking relationship. Here's how it actually works.

Why $250K Isn't Enough for Most Practices

Most independent medical and dental practices carry between $300K and $3M in operating cash. They use it to cover 30 to 60 days of payroll, vendor payments, rent, and insurance float. MSO-PC groups and DSOs typically carry $1M to $5M+ per entity.

At the standard FDIC limit, the majority of that cash is uninsured. If the bank fails, those dollars are frozen during resolution and eventually recovered at 80 to 95 cents on the dollar over 2 to 6 months. For a practice, that kind of freeze is operationally catastrophic, even before it becomes a financial loss.

The gap isn't theoretical. 2023's regional bank stress events (SVB, Signature, First Republic) sent healthcare practices scrambling to assess their exposure. Most discovered, too late, that their banker had never explained the coverage mechanics.

How the $10M Ceiling Actually Works

Sweep networks, specifically the IntraFi Cash Service (ICS), extend FDIC coverage by distributing a single account balance across many FDIC-member banks behind the scenes. Each bank holds less than $250,000 per depositor, so every dollar stays inside the insured ceiling. Because IntraFi has 3,000+ participating banks, practical coverage runs up to $10M per depositor per program.

Critically, the practice never interacts with the underlying banks. One account, one statement, one login. Payments, ACH, wires, and reconciliation all work exactly as they would in a standard single-bank account. The sweep happens automatically, in the background.

For MSO-PC structures, coverage stacks. Each PC is a separate depositor, eligible for its own $10M ceiling. A group with 5 PCs plus an MSO has a theoretical $60M coverage ceiling, with no special treasury engineering required.

Setting It Up in Practice

Three paths:

• Switch to a bank with built-in sweep coverage. Lemma includes $10M IntraFi sweep coverage on every account at no additional cost. Activation happens at account opening. No separate enrollment, no manual allocation.

• Ask your existing bank about adding IntraFi. Many generalist banks support it but don't advertise it. Some charge 10 to 25 basis points against the balance. Worth asking if switching banks is disruptive.

• Manually split balances across multiple banks. Technically works, but multiplies your reconciliation, payroll setup, and ACH configuration by however many banks you add. Rarely worth it for any practice above $500K.

What Lemma doesn't do: it doesn't restructure your accounts for you, set up payer EFT enrollment with your insurers, or replace your CPA's treasury policy. It provides the underlying infrastructure (FDIC sweep, ACH, lockbox, virtual accounts) and gets out of the way.

If you hold more than $400K in a single account and haven't confirmed coverage mechanics with your bank, that's the conversation to have this week. One last note: coverage mechanics should be documented alongside your treasury policy. Not because auditors necessarily ask for it, but because the CFO, practice administrator, and practice owner should all know exactly how much of the operating cash is insured and how. Most practices can't answer that question. The ones that can sleep better at night.

Open a free Lemma account in 5 minutes. $10M FDIC coverage per entity via IntraFi sweep, included at no extra cost. Free ACH, flat $15 wires, 1.75% APY on your operating balance.