Perspective               

Law Passed to Delay Lock-in

As a part of the bioterrorism bill, President Bush signed into law on June 12 a measure that will continue to allow people with Medicare to switch from one Medicare plan to another on a monthly basis by delaying implementation of "lock-in" for people with Medicare until 2005. The elimination of "lock-in" permits people with Medicare once again to change their Medicare health plan throughout the year, enabling them to leave their Medicare HMO if their doctor leaves the network, if they cannot get the care they need, if they want coverage outside of their service areas, or for any other reason.

Consumer advocates have long fought to eliminate or delay the lock-in law since it takes away the ability of people with Medicare to make choices about how and where they get their health care.

For several key reasons it's appropriate to allow people with Medicare to leave an HMO throughout the year:

• To ensure continuity of care if your doctors leaves your HMO's network;
• To get treatment if your HMO won't provide it;
• To use an out-of-network hospital that specializes in the treatment of your disease;
• To get coverage away from home.

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