‘Father of the HMO’ Paul Elwood dies at 95

The man referred to as the father of the HMO, Paul Ellwood Jr., MD, has died at 95, the Washington Post reports. Dr. Ellwood gave up practicing pediatric neurology in the late 1960s to devote himself to national health reform. He coined the term HMO in 1970 and many of his ideas were incorporated into the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973, which required employers with 25 or more workers to offer HMO options with health insurance plans.