Focused More on Costs, not Care - HMO Myth - Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois

Focused More on Costs, not Care - HMO Myth

One of the common myths about health maintenance organizations (HMOs) is that they focus more on saving money, rather than keeping you healthy. HMOs have changed over the years. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois takes a look at this common myth. We also talk with everyday people who share their thoughts and experiences with HMOs. Hear what they have to say about HMOs and whether this myth is true or false.

Learn more about HMOs at http://www.bcbsil.com/hmo

Show Transcript

NARRATOR: Do you think HMOs focus more on saving money versus keeping people healthy?

MAN 1: I don't believe that an HMO is just to save money. I believe it was just a separate service offering. I really don't see a difference between the care from HMO to PPO.

WOMAN 1: I've never experienced an HMO picking money over health. With my experience, they have always just had me go to the doctor. And I've never had a problem with them saying, oh, you don't need that. Or, oh it's just this. They're very thorough and very on top of everything.

MAN 2: The HMO wants to obviously earn a profit, and also keep the patient healthy. I think the healthier the patient is, everyone wins in the long run.

NARRATOR: The goals of HMOs are to provide access to quality care at lower cost and with greater patient satisfaction. To do this, HMOs offer a variety of ways to keep you healthy and keep costs low. Your primary care physician coordinates your care. They have access to tools and data that help keep track of your health and costs. And HMO benefit plans focus on preventative services to help keep common health conditions from getting worse. All of this is designed to help you keep your health up and your costs low. To learn more about HMOs, visit our website.

BCBSIL Connect Team

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