Open Enrollment Week - HMO vs. PPO!

At my work, we have an option for health insurance between choosing an HMO plan or a PPO plan. There are significant differences here.

Generally, HMO's are plans that require me to go to one preferred doctor that will refer me out to other doctors should he not be able to solve my problem. I have done this for a long time and it can be a hassle sometimes. However, it is cheaper. My work will pay 100% of my premium if I choose HMO. Also, co-payments are pretty small under this plan.

Under PPO, I would have a lot more flexibility in choosing which doctors I want to see. Therefore, any medical problems I have would most likely be solved faster. However, work will only cover the premium up to the amount they spend on the HMO. So I would have to front the extra $160 a month of premium. In addition, there would be a deductible to reach and higher co-payments.

An example of how my HMO was frustrating was a few years ago. I had a condition to which I went to my doctor. After 4 visits (about 7 weeks) he hadn't solved anything. He finally gave up and referred me to another doctor. After 4 visits there (about 8 more weeks), the doctor couldn't figure it out. I finally went out of my HMO network on my own, paid the doctor out of my pocket and he solved my problem on my first visit. Luckily it was not a life threatening condition, just something random and annoying. If I were under a PPO program, I could have given up on my doctor a lot sooner and gone to see the doctor I wanted to go to a lot earlier.

What decision do I have to make here? HMO or PPO.

My solution: I'm going with HMO. PPO just requires too much out of pocket for me. In addition to the $160 a month of additional premium, the co-pays and deductibles could add up to a lot more. I don't really have any health issues and I don't anticipate any popping up in the next year. And if they do, I can always switch to PPO next November.