: an organization that provides comprehensive health care to voluntarily enrolled individuals and families in a particular geographic area by member physicians with limited referral to outside specialists and that is financed by fixed periodic payments determined in advance

called also health maintenance organization

Examples of HMO in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Even with insurance, those who under HMO plans can expect to pay hundreds of dollars for specialty care. Jasmine Browley, Essence, 11 Jan. 2024 But, if either spouse has family coverage that covers the other spouse via another, non-HDHP health insurance plan such as an HMO or PPO, neither spouse is eligible to contribute to an HSA. Martha C. White, wsj.com, 7 Dec. 2023 About 9,000 of those HMO patients, officials confirmed, are currently assigned to doctors with UC San Diego Health. Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Oct. 2023 Tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente workers voted to authorize a strike against the HMO if no agreement is reached with their unions by the end of September, union officials announced Thursday. 13,000 workers for Detroit’s Big 3 automakers went on strike over wages and benefits. Helen Li, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2023 Medicare Advantage plans generally offer a wider range of services such as dental and vision and tend to offer a wide variety of copays and deductibles similar to HMO coverage that companies offer their employees. Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Aug. 2023 The second, a Medicare Advantage Plan HMO, would cost less than half as much and cover the basics plus vision, dental, hearing and prescriptions, but limit me to a prescribed network of doctors. Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 12 Aug. 2023 The most popular type of plan is a Medicare Advantage HMO (Health Maintenance Organization. Richard Eisenberg, Fortune Well, 9 Aug. 2023 Blue Cross is seeking a 6.7% rate increase for its small group PPO plans and a 5.8% increase for its small group HMO plans, according to the state. Jc Reindl, Detroit Free Press, 11 July 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'HMO.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1971, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of HMO was in 1971

Dictionary Entries Near HMO

Cite this Entry

“HMO.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/HMO. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Medical Definition

plural HMOs
: an organization that provides comprehensive health care to voluntarily enrolled individuals and families in a particular geographic area by member physicians with limited referral to outside specialists and that is financed by fixed periodic payments determined in advance

called also health maintenance organization

compare ppo

More from Merriam-Webster on HMO

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