A small sum HMO patients contribute to their bill for every doctor visit.
What you’ll get in the end, at the minimum; a set of guaranteed medical services.
The oldfashioned way-you pay the full bill (or split it with your insurer) each time you get sick.
primary-care doctor as traffic cop: he or she OK’s all visits to higher-billing specialists.
Replaces the more accurate but less catchy “health-insurance purchasing cooperatives” (HIPCs). In short: you and your neighbors, organized by region, buy health services at bulk rates to save money.
Health-maintenance organization. These managed-care mavens offer all types of care, often under one roof, at a fixed monthly price.
Medicine practiced with an eye to cost. Enthusiasts extol “efficiency”; critics see auditors denying needed care.
The reigning reform theory. The trick is to structure the medical market so doctors and hospitals compete for patients.
Insurer to the poor has a diminished mission under Clinton plan, as those now eligible would join alliances. Would continue to provide emergency treatment for undocumented residents.
Insurer of the largest U.S.interest group–the elderly–and Clinton’s political football. He’d give new drug and long-term-care benefits in return for higher premiums and $124 billion in cuts over five years.
Some large employers run their own plans. They still could do so, but might be taxed to help fund the alliance system.
The system used in Canada. The government pays all bills with your taxes. Prices for care are set by the single payer.
