They are very dramatic. They certainly matter. But thousands of other, successful cases are simply recorded on tables somewhere. These are of equal importance and must be measured as well. Litigation brings failures to the fore, as do congressional hearings.
Movies make it clear that HMOs are as bad as it gets.
The greatest impediment to sound public policy is the inability to step back from those dramatic incidents to understand this institution on a systemwide basis, where success stories have equal billing with horror stories. Here's the irony. The overall level of treatment is sometimes better and sometimes worse than individual care. But in terms of price, the HMO does better. From the ex ante perspective, this combination of quality and price explains why rational individuals choose to enroll in these plans.