What is POS (Point-of-Service) Coverage?
A Point-of-Service medical plan is basically a combination of a PPO and an HMO. Like the other types of managed care, POS plans are established to provide lower cost medical care to those that remain in the network. Assume for a moment that POS’s are structured identically to PPO medical plans. The major difference between a POS and PPO plan is that the Point-of-Service plan makes use of a Primary Care Physician. With the POS plans, if you seek medical care outside of the network, you will be responsible for full payment. On the other hand, if your Primary Care Physician gives a referral for you to see a specialist outside of the network, the insurer will pick up most of the cost. As with HMO plans, POS plans typically include preventive care and health improvement programs.
