The Pankian Metaphor 3018

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The "at least one" is a so-called PPO (preferred provider organization). I don't really know the details -- e.g., when-whether prior approval is needed for non-emergency treatment -- but as I understand it, people can self-refer to specialists without first visiting a primary-care or gatekeeper doc. The "preferred" in PPO refers to the fact that there *is* a list of approved docs-facilities, and the plan doesn't pay as much if one gets treatment elsewhere. I'm not sure who administers the thing -- some outfit whose business is administering health-care plans, I think.

My impression overall is that the plan is pretty good as these things go these days, from the standpoint of not having to deal with too much bureaucracy. It is also not cheap, though in part that may be because the pool of covered employees is older than average.

Other than the nitpicks, I'm staying out of this discussion :-) -- my "based on almost zero actual knowledge, but who lets facts get in the way of a good rant?" opinion is that the way medical care is paid for in the US makes almost no sense, though it's possible that it's still optimal in that all the other approaches would be in some way worse.

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-- B. L. Mbuttingill ObDisclaimer: I don't speak for my employers; they return the favor.