Introduction
BlueCross BlueShield Association (BCBSA) is an independent health insurance association which is founded in 1929. It is made up by 37 different health insurance organizations and companies in the United States. They directly or indirectly provide health insurance to over 100 million Americans. Under the Association, it has two famous products. One is Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), and the other is Preferred Provider Organization (PPOs). Most American who has health insurance from their employer are enrolled either an HMO or PPO. All of these managed care plans go through the health plan’s network, which contract with doctors, health care providers, clinics, and hospital.
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Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs)
HMO is an organization that provides or arranges managed care for health insurance, individual and other entities in the United States. It existed prior to the 1970s, which required employer who has 25 or more employee to offer HMO healthcare. In most of HMO plans, it required the insurers to select a primary care physician (PCP) who is responsible for all their healthcare services. If they need care from a physician specialist in the network, their primary care physician will have to provide them with a referral. If they don’t get the referral or they select to go to see a doctor outside of your HMO’s network, they will most likely have to pay all or most of the cost.
Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs)
In health insurance, a
HMO- Is the most popular of the plans and is a group of providers that provides services to subscribers with a very small or even co copay when services are rendered. There actually are various types of HMO's that link providers to create a healthcare delivery system, they are Group Model HMO, Individual Practice Association HMO, Network Model HMO, Staff Model HMO, and Open Access HMO.
The types of managed care are differentiated by definition, operation, structure, and information needs. `HMOs were the most common type of MCO until commercial insurance companies developed PPOs to compete with HMOs' (Douglas, 2003, p.331). `HMOs are business entities that either arrange for or provide health services to an enrolled population after prepayment of a fixed sum of money, called a premium' (Peden, 1998, p.78). There are three characteristics that an HMO must have. The first is a health care financing and delivery system that provides services for members in a particular geographic area. Second, is ensured access to a complete range of health care services, health maintenance, treatment, and routine checkups. Last, health care must be obtained from voluntary personnel that participate in the HMO. The five HMO models related to the participating physicians are the Staff
Another type of managed care program that was introduced is the Preferred Provider Organization (PPO). A PPO is comprised of a group of physicians, hospitals and other medical service providers who contract with employers, insurance companies or other plan sponsors. The PPO offers discounted pricing to these contracted organizations due to the high volume of business received. PPO’s typically have up-front cost sharing in the form of deductibles and/or co-insurance, which vary depending upon the actual plan chosen.
HMOs are usually the least expensive health plans, offer predictable costs for health care, the least administrative paperwork, and cover preventive care (Barsukiewicz, Raffel, & Raffel, 2010). However, HMOs also restrict direct access to specialists by requiring referrals by a PCP, requiring patients to see a provider in the HMO network, and often not covering more costly procedures or care options, because care is managed to control excessive or unnecessary care. Providers gain if they provide less care (Austin & Wetle, 2012). This incentive could affect patient-provider trust.
New England Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) is a regional not for profit managed care company that has its headquarters in Boston, MA, with over 500,000 enrollees within 25 different plans including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. A consortium of employers has shown interest in bidding on a managed care contract to be offered to the consortium’s 75,000 employees whom are locate in and around Nashua, New Hampshire. The consortium of employers includes companies such as IBM, Ford, and Prudential Insurance.
Everything seems to revolve around health management organizations (HMO) that provide insurance to many individuals, at a cost. HMO’s attracted many new patients both elderly and young, but later on decided that serving the older, less affluent population was not worth their while. HMO’s use underhanded techniques in order to save money in any manner possible. HMO’s will provide a participating doctor with a checklist or preliminary checks or procedures, which must be approached before the more expensive procedures are done. This leaves the doctor in a predicament. How should the doctor approach the situation? He or she may be able to treat the patient, but the question remains, will the HMO provide the services which are necessary?
Under the HMO, each patient is appointed to a primary care physician (PCP), who is essentially accountable for the long-term care of the members that she/he has been assigned and any specialists that a patient needs to see should be referred by their PCP. Some examples of HMOs are Kaiser Permanente and Humana. HMOs have been licensed at the state level, under a license that is known as a certificate of authority. A pro of an HMO is that treatment for a patient can begin prior to their insurance being authorized; A member may benefit from this because there would be little to no treatment delays. A con of an HMO is that in order to save cost, most HMOs provide narrow provider networks; A member may not benefit if in an emergency because their “in-network” emergency room might be far or there are “quick-care” in their area.
An HMO provides comprehensive health-care services to the insured for a fixed periodic payment. There may also be a nominal fee paid for each visit to a health-care provider. Unlike traditional insurance, HMOs actually provide the health care rather than just making payments to health-care providers. HMOs can have a variety of relationships with hospitals and physicians. Plan physicians may be salaried employees, members of an independent multi-specialty group, of a network of independent multi-specialty groups, or part of an individual practice association.
Today, there are several types of managed care plans including Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs), HMOs, and Point-of-Service (POS) plans. There are many types of HMOs that offer members a variety of health benefits. An HMO plan requires the member to use health care providers and facilities within the HMO network in order receive coverage, unless it is an emergency (Andrews, 2014, p. 1). A PPO is a form of managed care that most resembles a fee-for-service type situation. The plan members can generally refer themselves to doctors, including doctors outside the plan, although they typically will pay a higher percentage of the cost if the doctor is out of the network (Andrews, 2014, p. 1). A POS plan allows members to refer themselves outside the HMO network and still get some coverage (Andrews, 2014, p. 1). While these
The book discuss about three major types of managed care organization: health maintenance organizations (HMO), preferred provider organizations(PPO), and point of service plans(POS). Managed care has been around for minute. This organization has been around since 1930s. The three managed care organizations are require an agreement between the insurer and a network of health care providers. Policy holders are encouraged to use the providers in the network by the fact a percentage will pay the cost of care if received outside the network.
The Health Maintenance Organizations, well-known as HMO, has made healthcare a reasonably priced for numerous people here in America. What is an HMO? An HMO is an organization where the patient or subscriber is able to choose a medical provider from a list of doctors in a certain medical group. Every medical doctor has signed an agreement to see patients at a reduced rate. This kind of
Managed Care is a complex health care system in which physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare professionals organize in an interrelated system of people and facilities that communicate with one another and work together as a unit, commonly referred to as a network. This network coordinates and arranges health care services and benefits for a specific group of individuals, referred as enrollees, for the purpose of managing costs, quality, and access to health care. The Managed care program may be provided in a variety of settings, such as Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) and Preferred Provider Organization (PPO). In Health Maintenance Organization, the insurance company will only pay for care within the network. The member will pick a primary care provider who coordinates most of their care. Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) usually pays more if the member will get care within the network, but they still pay a portion if the member will go outside. And Point of Service (POS) plans let you choose between an HMO and a PPO each time you need care (Merrick, 2013).
A preferred provider organization (PPO) plan gives patients the flexibility to see providers and specialists within or outside the network of care; it will typically cost less to receive care from an in-network provider (U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, n.d.). In most cases, referrals for specialists and designating one physician as a primary care provider is not required of a PPO plan. (U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, n.d.). Alternatively, a health maintenance organization (HMO) limits patients to receive care from doctors, specialists, and hospitals covered under the health plan (U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, n.d.). With the exception of emergency can and out-of-area urgent care, all care providers
People monthly premium can be a lot lower based on people income. No matter which health insurance plan people choose. They can save a lot money on their monthly insurance based on their income. The difference between HMO Health Maintenance Organization and PPO Preferred Provider Organization. These two health plans help people compare plans to get the right coverage for them and their family. A HMO health plan is a type of plan where people can pick one primary care Physician acts as the gateway between you, family, and your care. It also plans often offer the best pricing and least flexibility. They have lower prices by limiting your care to the doctors, clinics and hospital within the HMO a network. It require to choose primary care physician
HMO has access you can use to certain doctors and hospitals that’s in your network. The network has physicians that agreed to lower rates to plan members that