Another woman wanted a female surgeon to treat her embarrassing rectal disorder. Worse, the HMO had turned down the surgeon's request to become an HMO provider, saying that they already had enough surgeons in the area. Never mind that there were no female general surgeons on the plan. As far as the HMO was concerned, a surgeon was a surgeon. Even if your plan has the type of specialist you need, you still may not be able to get specialty care.
Some plans have exclusive contracts with one group of specialists in each geographic area.
For instance there may be five cardiologists listed in your HMO directory, but if you look closely you will see they all work together in the same office. In exchange for an exclusive contract and the promise of lots of new patients, the cardiology group may offer to cut its usual fees. Sounds reasonable, but this can be a problem if you see one cardiologist and find that you do not get along. Or worse yet, you hate his guts and would not see him again if he was the last doctor on earth. Under ordinary circumstances, you would change to a new cardiologist.