CareFirst livid Cross Blue Shield k...

CareFirst livid Cross Blue Shield knows for what cause to pick a winner. The company, which succors customers in Maryland, Delaware, northern Virginia and Washington, DC was the first carrier in its region to tender a preferred-provider organization Since 1996 its PPO membership has doubled, increasing through more than 600,000 individuals.

Health maintenance organizations, the enrollment darlings of the 1980 and early- to mid-'90s, are losing members in what is being called the "decade of the PPO" Unlike HMO which require that individuals diocese a primary-care physician, remain in network for coverage and obtain referrals prior to seeing specialists,