Until it recently went out of business, we had a very good HMO.
It sounds like heresy, I know, but HealthGuard did a better job than Blue Cross ever did for us, and for many years. Births, surgeries, well child care, hospitalizations, adult physicals, broken bones... they did it all, and for reasonable co-pays. They also didn't bully our doctors. Their mission was to serve their customers, while making a modest profit.
From what I understand, they didn't go under, but the owners got tired and sold to another business. Too bad.
HMOs can be the answer to health care problems, but not if the first question is, "How can we avoid paying for sick people's care?"