Once the panels are up and running, a patient who wishes to undergo a particular treatment--a CAT scan, say, or a bone-marrow transplant--but is turned down, may turn to one of these panels of experts. The HMOs and managed-care firms, all members of the California Assn. of Health Plans, have promised that if the experts agree with the patient, then the companies will provide the service.

The announcement comes at a time when the image and financial condition of HMOs and other managed-care companies could hardly be worse. Consumers and politicians have roundly criticized managed care for denying needed treatments and, in several dramatic recent cases, dumping thousands of elderly patients from Medicare HMOs.

In California, the new program also represents a coming out of sorts for Walter Zelman, a high-profile consumer health-care advocate who the HMOs and managed-care companies hope will give them a new, patient-friendly image as the president of the California Assn. of Health Plans.