Managed Care

Some managed care plans have a mail-order pharmacy option. This means that you send your doctor’s prescription for routine maintenance drugs (for example, blood pressure medicine, drugs to control blood sugar, and other drugs used on a regular basis) to the mail order pharmacy. In most cases, you will receive a 3-month supply of your medication by return mail. You still pay a copay, but your cost may be lower than it would be at a local retail pharmacy.

If you choose to enroll in a managed care plan instead of an indemnity plan, you may have lower out-of-pocket expenses for health care, as long as you see doctors who are part of the plan (innetwork providers).

There are three main types of managed care plans:
• Health maintenance organizations (HMOs).
• Preferred provider organizations (PPOs).
• Point-of-service plans (POS).

All three types of managed care plans have contracts with doctors, hospitals, and other providers. They have agreed on certain fees with these providers. As long as you get your care from a plan provider, you typically will be responsible only for any cost-sharing your plan requires.