With all the different acronyms popping up during your search for the best healthcare plan option for you, it can be difficult to decipher the difference in the types of healthcare plans available. Let’s take a look at three of the most common acronyms.
A Health Maintenance Organization, better known as an HMO, is an organization that provides coverage of certain health care services required by members of the HMO. HMOs most commonly offer coverage which includes access to a primary care physician, emergency care, and referral to specialists as needed. Preventative medicine is at the forefront of the HMO plan. The goal is to address your health care requirements while you are healthy to prevent disease or illness.
PPO stands for Preferred Provider Organization and is a form of healthcare plan where the health care providers contract to offer medical services at rates that have been pre-negotiated. Subscribed members to a PPO are required to use network providers also in the PPO. Using a health care provider who is outside of the PPO network can result in paying more out-of-pocket for services which could have been provided for less or for free within the network.
Finally we have the POS or Point of Service plan. These plans allow you, the individual policy holder to go to an out-of-network or non-participating doctor for a fee, if that is what you wish. If the services of a non-participating health care provider are utilized, the individual often obtains restrictions of benefits or incurs more out-of-pocket costs.