The plan will cover these outside visits, but only after the patient has satisfied an annual deductible. This could range from a couple of hundred dollars to a percentage of total salary, which can be quite substantial. The fewest restrictions are found in preferred provider organizations, essentially an extensive list of physicians. Once the definitions of the various health plans are clear in your mind, you should look for a plan that has a strong track record of preventive care. Many companies rely on the National Committee for Quality Assurance, an independent organization, which has an elaborate system of audits to measure performance at health plans.
Consumers can check to see how health plans in their own communities compare.
Reports are available on health plans covering 50 million people, about a third of all Americans with private health insurance. For corporate managers, the accredited health plans appear as a better investment of company and worker dollars to help keep employees healthy. General Motors, for example, makes a larger contribution to covering the cost of accredited plans selected by its workers. They measure overall health plan performance. An HMO may have hundreds of thousands of Californians enrolled, but ultimately, care is delivered at the local level by a medical group, an aggregation of doctors.