Continuity is not ensured when employers switch plans. When a provider leaves a plan, continuity is available only when the patient is pregnant, institutionalized, or terminally ill. Allow patients to see an outside specialist at no additional cost whenever the specialists in their plan can't meet their needs. NO Require that health plans have an adequate number and variety of health care providers close to where consumers live and work. NO Require that insurance companies pay for emergency services if a reasonable person would consider the situation an emergency.
Plans can charge patients extra if they go to a non-network provider.
Patients could be left with bills for services rendered by emergency room personnel if the plan concludes, after the fact, that those services had been rendered after the patient had been stabilized. Ensure that doctors and nurses can report quality problems without retaliation from HMOs, insurance companies, hospitals and others. NO NO Prevent plans from financially rewarding health care professionals for limiting a patient's care. NO Give consumers access to an independent consumer assistance program to help them choose plans and get the services they need. NO Allow doctors to prescribe prescription drugs that are not on the HMO's predetermined list when needed.