Abdul, Well, while it is true that there are both bad and good HMO's, as well as PPO's, you never really know what's going to happen until you get sick.
My personal experience with an illness suggests that I might well not be here if I were using an HMO. I had to circumvent a doctor in order to get treatment, and that isn't usually possible with an HMO. I apparently had a bad doctor, and he wanted to refer me for psychiatric evaluation, not to a proper specialist. He flat out didn't believe that there was anything wrong with me. I got worse and worse until I took it upon myself to select a specialist and make my own appointment. After examining me, the specialist was very surprised that I hadn't sought help for my condition, seeing how severe I was. I told him I HAD been seeking help, but the GP wouldn't belive me. At that point, the specialist clammed up... that doctor protects doctor thing. I went back to my GP and showed him the evidence, and I got a certified letter from him a couple of days later 'firing' me as a patient. It took me 3 years to fully recover from my illness, largely because of how severe the condition became due to no treatment. I felt like suing that GP, first person I ever really felt like suing in my life. I wished I had wised up sooner, but now I know better. I was extremely grateful that I had a PPO. If one doctor stands in your way in the PPO system, you simply get a different doctor. Try that with an HMO. Ask Mr. Baggett, when potentially your life is on the line, "less restrictive" could literally be a lifesaver. And that's worth the paltry difference in price between the two to me. Alot of other people would feel this way as well- if they had ever been in the situation. Truth is, most people with insurance haven't really ever been that sick, and don't know how their insurance situation will turn out until it's too late. The quality of your health insurance CAN make the difference between your life and death. Or your wife's life. Or your kid's life. After my experience, this is not an area that I am going to take risks with for a few bucks. The difference in price between an HMO and a PPO is not great enough to justify what you are giving up. I stand by my statement wholeheartedly. PS, if your state fully allows you to switch on the fly with a pre-existing condition, then I suppose you can. But I would be awfully paranoid about gotchas. And you're right, Mass. is the most expensive insurance in the country. At 12:35 PM 8/12/2004 -0400, Abd ul-Rahman Lomax wrote: >At 01:13 PM 8/10/2004, Frank Gilley wrote: >>One other thing, I would strongly advise you to use a PPO instead of an HMO. They >>are at least an order of magnitude less restrictive. > >Kaiser, the best health insurance plan, is an HMO, so I'd not suggest any such rule. > >Note that "less restrictive" almost inevitably means "more expensive." TANSTAAFL. > >*Some* HMOs are, apparently, pretty bad. I'd be very careful about any HMO, you don't >have to be as careful with a PPO *if* there are many doctors signed up. > Frank Gilley Chief Design Engineer Dell-Star Technologies (918) 838-1973 Phone (918) 838-8814 Fax [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.dellstar.com * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * To post a message: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * To leave this list visit: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/leave.html * * Contact the list manager: * mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Forum Guidelines Rules: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/forumrules.html * * Browse or Search previous postings: * http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
