More Americans Expected To Join HMOs Next Year

A prediction that 6 million more American people will join Health Maintenance Organizations next year has been made by the Group Health Association of America. In part, it says, this will occur because of an expected 1.2% decline in premiums in 1995.

HMO enrollment has risen from 9 million in 1982 to an estimated 50.5 million today. Average HMO premiums rose 10.6% in 1992, 8.1% in 1993 and only 5.6% this year. The organization's president attributed the huge rise in enrollment to the HMOs' philosophy of prevention, but other surveys have found that most people chose HMOs over their employers' costlier, fee-for-service coverage.

During this past year's debate on health care reform, the American Medical Association and other organizations lobbied for restrictions on managed care companies, including options which would force them to allow into their plans any doctor who accepts their rates and meets their standards.