The Basics Of POS Health Insurance Plans

Have you been introduced to point of sale health insurance yet? Point of Sale (POS) health insurance plans combine some features of HMO and PPO plans, but they are not the same as either of these older kinds of medical policies. Take a moment to compare the plan types so you can understand the differences.

A few years ago, you may have just had to choose between PPO or HMO health insurance. Let me describe these quickly, and this may help you comprehend the features and benefits of the newer plan type.

A few decades ago, HMO plans were introduced. These plans required members to use a network of medical providers in order to get health services covered by the insurer. Some of these HMO plans worked very well because they provided easy access to medical providers, simplified payments, and cost control. On the other hand, they were very restrictiive. Most of the time, out-of-network health services would not be covered by the HMO. Companies may have paid a non-network bill for emergency treatment, but some people got stuck with big bills because they did not follow the rules.

In addition, plan members would have to pick a primary care doctor. This doctor would manage care for the patient. To access other doctors, the patient would have to go through their primary care doctor, though they may able to change this designation at certain times.

PPO plans came out, and they were much more flexible. They had a network too. Plan members would enjoy the best level of coverage by using these plan providers. Plan members could still get covered by an out-of-network medical service. They just had to understand that the coverage and benefits would be lower. Things like co-payments and deductibles would be much higher for non-network services, but they may still be covered. In addition,

PPO plans did not usually require a member to name a primary care doctor. A plan member may choose any doctors they wanted to. If a plan member wanted to see a specialist, he or she was usually free to seek an appointment on their own.

POS plans are new, and they try to take adavantage of some of the features and benefits of both types of plans. They work a lot like an HMO, most of the time. In addition to sticking to a list of plan providers, plan participants might also need to have a designated primary care doctor. But the plan members could still decide to get medical services outside of the plan network. They just needed to understand it would probably cost them more.

This new type of solution may provide some real advantages for people who are usually happy with the cost savings and management of their HMO plan, but who want to keep their options open in the future. It makes it much easier to choose between network and non-network services too. If the patient stays with the plan providers, they can enjoy lower costs. If they decide to find their own provider, who does not belong to the plan, they may pay more for their choice.

Now that you have another option, you may have to decide if a PPO, HSA, or POS plan is best.

It would be impossible for me to tell you which type of plan will be better. So much depends on the plans that are sold in the area, the family's budget, and the way they prefer to get their medical services. Do you need a medical policy? It is usually a good idea to shop around for a variety of choices!

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