Can Health Maintenance Organizations Be Successful? An Analysis of 14 Federally Qualified "HMOs"

Health maintenance organizations (HMO) serve as alternatives to traditional fee-for-service health care delivery systems by providing health care to members based on prepaid rates. The Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 authorized a program to help develop new HMO's and expand existing ones by providing financial assistance and requiring certain employers to offer HMO's as an option to employees.