"So what’s happened here? What’s happened is that both patients and doctors have allowed themselves to be shunted aside. The individual doctor and individual patient, together, no longer comprise the basic nuclear unit of health care. Doctors and patients have been separated from one another; separated and marginalized, reduced to ciphers. They have become mere commodities in the vast health care marketplace. "

Excellent analysis of the way that HMO's do business. I can vouch for its accuracy in the way that people with chronic illnesses are treated. I had so many hoops to jump through in order to have my surgery approved, that after 2 years when it WAS approved, I was told too much time had lapsed and surgery probably wouldn't help my condition anymore.