The best care pays off, not cheapest

The plan is simple for this managed care insurer: you put quality of care first, no matter what, and it pays off. That system flies in the face of the usual press HMOs receive. The charges are heard over and over again: HMOs drive the hardest negotiations to find the least expensive providers. Consumers and others have the notion that managed care means reduced choice and financial hardships for hospitals and physicians under contract with them. At least one major insurer has a different story to tell.