hmo cost may change

From: BOB FORD <BOB_FORD@compuserve.com>
Subject: hmo cost may change
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1998 09:28:44 -0400

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The cost of health insurance takes a big bite out all of our paychecks. =

Because
HMO's cost less than traditional health insurance, they have been gaining=

members from people that want less costly health insurance.  However ther=
e
is
a growing number of people, including me, that think HMO's are a consumer=

rip off.  That is probably why I got on a mailing list of a group that
plans to
make health insurance doctors practice good medicine.  =


First some background.    Most HMO's have a list of medicines that their
doctors can prescribe.  Of course, these medicines are only the cheap
medicines. =

In most cases HMO doctors can NOT prescribe expensive medicines because
HMO's pay for the medicine their doctors prescribe.  The more a medicine
cost
an HMO, the less profit the HMO makes.  That is one way they keep costs
low. =

This cost saving on medicine by HMO's is going to be the basis for the
attack
on HMO's.  =


I did not really give much thought to the subject before, but  after some=

research, I found out that for certain diseases there is only one
recognized best
medicine to cure the disease.  In these cases, the one best medicine is
usually a
new medicine and it is also usually an expensive medicine.  There are
older,
cheaper, less effective medicines for these diseases however.  Suppose yo=
u
have
disease X and there is only one recognized best medicine (A) to cure the
disease.    Also suppose your HMO doctor prescribed medicine (B) to cure
the
disease.  =


Your doctor either (1) did not know about medicine (A) or (2) deliberatel=
y
choose not to prescribe medicine (A) for reasons not connected with what =
is
best for your health.  If your doctor did not know about medicine (A)
he/she
was incompetent unless it was a very new medicine.  If your doctor choose=

NOT to prescribe medicine (A) because it was expensive or other non medic=
al
reasons, that is negligence on the part of the doctor claim the group
trying to
put a stop to this practice.

The plan is to file a complaint with the state medical board every time a=
n
HMO
doctor prescribes a medicine that is not the best medicine for a disease.=

The
group has done extensive research and knows which states medical boards a=
re
very tough on doctors that do not practice the highest quality of medicin=
e.

They will attempt to get the doctors license to practice medicine in that=

state
revoked.  If they succeed with getting a few doctor's license revoked for=

not
prescribing the best medicine for a disease, you can be sure the doctors
will get
the message and either get out of the HMO or get the HMO to change their
policy on what medicine they can prescribe.

BOB FORD
BOB_FORD@COMPUSERVE.COM

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