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ByCHARLOTTE BORGENS
Times Newspapm Contributing Writer
What in the world is an HMO or a PPO? Everybody from the White House, the news agencies, and health care professionals seem to know.
But do any of us really know what these mysterious initials stand for? No one really says their full name. HMO stands for Health Maintenance Organization and PPO stands for Preferred Provider Organization.
Health maintenance organizations must be licensed health insurance carriers. They own and operate their own health care facility and have their own network of doctors on staff to provide health care to you for what amounts to the value of your health insurance co-payment.
This means that you may go for a physical and battery of tests and only pay $10, if that is what your prearranged co-payment is for the service.
For more people this co-payment is established through the HMO and their employer. This can look very good to most people because their outof-pocket expense is very low.
But they lose the choice from whom they will receive their health care and where they will receive their health care; because this too is prearranged by the health maintenance
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