Critical Condition
From the capital to kitchen tables, and from frustration with HMOs to worries about cost, health care is topic A. And the patients are ready to rumble.
Sandi Bergevin has a terrific internist, and she adores the ophthalmologist who has treated her glaucoma for the past 15 years. "It takes a long time to build up the trust," she says. "I feel he's taking care of me and is not going to let anything happen to me." But the 55-year-old hospital worker is not so sure about her HMO. Because its vision plan stipulates only three office visits a year, getting the care she needs usually involves a long series of appeals. And she worries constantly that things could get worse.