Reason

Some of my friends have complained about our HMO, but I really appreciate it. They have never balked at referring me around to various specialists when they could have thought it was a bit excessive, our practitioner is generally available, and she uses email. Being in a healthy, well-educated city probably means they have tons of money to throw at their enrollees - I get 8 half-priced massages each year at their alternative wellness center, which is pretty astounding. I guess my main complaint is their masseuses are overbooked and it can take weeks to get in to see them. Boo-hoo.

My prenatal care has now been completely referred out of their normal system - a fancy OB/Gyn for me and an extra fancy Perinatologist for baby. I need to get two non-stress tests done per week on top of my other visits (and should baby so much as look at them funny, I'll be induced) and it is more convenient for me to go to the extra fancy doctor than the fancy doctor. But, since these things are based on referral and I need to go get two tests per week, I figured I needed to ask if it was OK to get them done at the extra fancy doctor because I presume she is more expensive. They didn't even blink. I mean, it isn't like I'm fighting for some cutting edge cancer treatment, but it was nice to have my convenience be reason enough to do it the way I wanted.