I have HealthNet HMO through my company and it has been very painful getting medical help with this insurance policy. During the sign-up I was assured by sales people that there would not be any problem with HMO. But when I actually needed medical attention I learned that the doctor whose name printed on my insurance card would not accept new patients – especially HMO patients! It took me five (5) weeks to finally find a primary care physician (PCP) to take me. Also, I had to wait for over 4 weeks to get my first appointment (new patient). I was not aware that the PCPs often require that their new patients to make the ‘new patient appointment’ even when the patient needs no medical attention. So, basically under this insurance plan, the new patients are required to spend the money even when they don’t need medical help. On top of the difficulty of getting to see a doctor under HealthNet HMO, the customer service at HealthNet was painfully unprofessional, rude, and intensely bureaucratic. Also HMO patients have been systematically treated by both the doctor office and the insurance company without respect: HMO patients are made to feel like they are some kind of sub-human lining up to get handouts. They seem to make the patients feel very undignifying to carry HMO plan. This is one of many problems in the health care system in the US today.