PacifiCare HMO vs PPO

[MastaTam]

Does anyone have any experience with these plans? I need to decided between PacifiCare's HMO or PPO by next week, and I'm not sure which one is better. I like the PPO plan because of the flexibility it allows me in seeing doctors, but the out of pocket expenses are greater than the HMO. The only reason I'm shying away from the HMO is because of the bad rap HMOs have for providing care. However, I'm not sure if that bad rap pertains only to Kaiser. I also have the option to pick Kaiser HMO, but that's definitely out of the question. Any help/opinions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Drakkon]

pcificare HMO = run for the hills...i was on it and they dont let you do hardly anything, only a really finite list of docs you can see and waiting times for most things are crazy unless you are in horrible straights
PPO wasnt much better, but at least it provides a lot more flexibility in docs and thus more flexibility in scheduling.
Now I'm on Blue Cross PPO and its great, any doc i want to see i can, any test i need can be performed within the next week, any specialist and no probs getting in to see any of them so long as i have a referral from doc that says i need that type of specialist.

 

[spidey07]

avoid an HMO at all costs.

It is worth it. I believe most of the medical community hates them with a passion.

 

[MastaTam]

I wish Blue Cross PPO was offered to me, as I've been on it before and have received excellent service. Unfortunately, I can only pick between PacifiCare and Kaiser. The HMO plan sounds tempting because there's no annual deductible, but I guess you get what you pay for. Right now I'm leaning toward the PPO plan. I guess I can cover the annual deductible with a flexible spending account. Thanks for your help guys.