HMO’s in their infantcy were not what they have been forced into today. Doctors were the HMO years ago and offered them to patients to keep them coming to them exclusively.
But when the lawyers got into the game and changed the play with lawsuits to physicians that far exceeded the acts, they forced new medical students to spend more time in learning so they could CYA themselves better, the price for healthcare went up. I personally know one surgeon that has to spend over $90 thousand a year on malpractice insurance. If he expects to cover his college loans and this bill along with his licensing fees, and pay his office staff, the customer has to pay.
So what started out as an incentive for patients, had to be turned into a business. Tack that on to the government discovering the areas of what they need to control to force the voters to their knees, education, transportation, and medical care, they added their “dime” to the mix through the numerous medical organizations they control financially and it all ended up in astronomical bills for the consumer. And the insurance companies are caught in the middle. So guess who is expected to pay the bills?
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I remember when my parents used to have insurance similar to what I posted, they didn’t like it because they had to fill out the forms and the doctor didn’t.
This was before the Internet though.
There is no reason we can’t take this back with smartphone apps so there isn’t a burden on the Doctor’s other than electronically signing documents online we submitted to them.