A Word About Insurances of Frustration
What Medicare HMO salesmen don't tell you can have disastrous consequences for you health. When you sign up for a Medicare HMO you are trading the freedom of choice what doctor to see and when for a set of rules made up by the insurance company.
Medicare pays these companies the same whether you see the doctor or not. So often, their rules are designed to frustrate you into not seeing the doctor. Worse, many Medicare HMO's deny easy access to ophthalmologists by making you see an HMO- affiliated, lesser trained, provider first. Frequently, they lack the tools and experience to diagnose and treat the common eye problems of seniors. Often, in order to get cataract surgery, a patient will have to travel 50 miles or more to see an HMO doctor who frequently does not follow the patient after the surgery!
When you need eye care, you don't need to wait for someone to approve a fax. Patients deserve better. Often the benefits offered by the HMO like reduced price drugs are minimal if you don't take many drugs. Additionally Medicare Part D plans offer the same without giving up the freedom of choice of traditional Medicare.