Washington Post
May 5, 2003
No HMO Fits All Anymore
By Bill Brubaker
Kaiser (Mid Atlantic) is seeking regulatory approval to offer a plan, as soon as this fall, that would allow patients to visit the doctors and hospitals of their choice.
Kaiser did not have much choice… The nonprofit insurer, part of California-based Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc., has been losing members and money.
Patients could participate in an HMO and receive treatment in Kaiser’s 29 medical centers or at 12 hospitals in the Washington-Baltimore region. That is the least expensive option.
Members could choose from a PPO network of more than 10,000 non-Kaiser physicians. A primary-care visit typically would cost about $20, and patients would have a larger choice of hospitals…
Or they could receive treatment from any doctor or hospital in the United States. That option, known as an indemnity plan, is the most expensive: Patients would pay 30 percent of any charges.
“You can move among the three tiers,” (vice president of sales and marketing Bill) Little said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10965-2003May3.html
Comment: Free choice… But with financial penalties for exercising that choice.
If we had a single payer system, financial penalties would be removed and the patient would truly have free choice of providers. Competition between providers would then be based on the patients’ perceptions of quality and service. Wouldn’t it be better if all providers were playing on the same financial field? Then Kaiser could concentrate on efforts to improve service, as would all other providers.
Fix the funding system, and then compete on quality and service.