I am part of an HMO that I have learned to make the most of. I can actually go to one doctor (my internal medicine doc.) and if he is puzzled by something about me he can E mail my other four providers, an allergist, an endocrinologist, a hematologist, or my gyencologist for an answer, and my endo counts twice because of Type II diabetes, or I get to go down the hallway to two of them for in person, or go out to another medical facility a short ways away by shuttle bus for the other two.
I have a standing referral to a GT who is actually looking for post-op patients to help the HMO learn about what we do go through in our golden ages of post life. I will be making an appointment there in the next month because there are some strange but generally nice issues coming up that I know I cannot talk to most friends or family about because they will go all weird on me if I do <lets face it, they have already>.
I pay $10US for each doctor / therapist I visit in person, and labs are fully covered, prescriptions are $5US for 30 days or $15US for 100 days for all but a tiny number of meds. I am not kicking,
Oh yeah -- I also have had a mammogram (free) which turned up a small suspicious growth in my right breast and had a needle biopsy done on it. Non cancerous fibrous intrusion but what a shock.
