What is a Dental PPO, POS, and DHMO?
A Dental PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) provides dental care to its members through a network of dentists who offer discounted fees to its plan members. You can typically use dentists out of the PPO’s network, but you will only be reimbursed the discounted fee for the services rendered – you will need to pay any additional amount yourself. A DHMO (Dental Health Maintenance Organization) provides you dental services through a network of providers in exchange for some form of prepayment. If you use a dentist out of the established network of providers, you may be responsible for paying the entire bill. A Dental POS (Point of Service) plan allows a member to use either a DHMO network dentist or to seek care from a dentist not in the HMO network. Members choose in-network care or out-of-network care at the time they make their dental appointment and usually incur higher out-of-pocket costs for out-of-network care.
