That is actually a little misleading. For example my company is coming up on our group health plan renewal, and my boss was possibly looking for changes, as a small business the group premiums are expensive for us. Here's what we found:
1) As as small business we could throw everyone into a "buy" your own plan option (and quietly give raises to help compensate)
2) Any person in Texas that buys their own insurance, no matter where they get it from, that plan is a HMO
3) The hospital networks (at least in Houston) don't take HMO plans as of 1/1/16 - so you lose all access to networks that you once had
4) You could still see a doctor there, but you would have to pay full freight and not use insurance at all
5) The only plans accepted by the hospital networks are Group insurance plan, not individual
So yeah, you could go directly to an Insurance Company and buy a plan, but good look getting seen by a doctor if you need it.
We decided to keep our group plan, now we're going to adjust how much the employee pay, and how much the company pays.
That does leave a hole in all of the bad news about Obamacare. If you settle for cash at time of treatment, there is a business incentive for the medical care provider to accept a fee amount that is significantly lower than gross charges or standard charges.
Get enough of that going on and the next thing you know there might be free market impact on the cost of healthcare. Buy a catastrophic coverage policy and pay cash for maintenance. Leave the charity medical insurance plan for people who need charity in order to survive. What a concept!
“That is actually a little misleading.”
Must be a Texas thing, in Florida none of that is true.
I bought my own plan, accepted everywhere,no HMO I can to any hospital I want. I costs me $300 per month, $5000 deductible. Free physical once a year.