The PPO health insurance is very popular with consumers today. Benefits are flexible and you have freedom to customize your benefits. Even though there are so many different variances of plans the PPO plan is not difficult to comprehend.

So I would like to start with the Lifetime maxiumum. Life time maximum is the maximum amount of money the insurer agrees to pay for the life of the policy. If you meet that maximum they will no longer pay any benefits for you. Most policies have Lifetime maximums from 2 million to 5 million.

The next thing to understand is your total out of pocket. The total out of pocket includes your deductible plus your co insurance. You ust meet your annual deductible before the insurer shares any expenses with you. Once that has been meet the co insurance is the amount they will share after that.

Most of the popular PPO plans have a office visit co pay. How this works is when you go to the doctor regardless if your deductible has been met you only pay the set amount. For example, if your co pay is $30 you would pay $30 at the time of the visit, then the insurance company would pay the rest of the visit.

The next thing to understand is prescription coverage. Prescription coverage typically have a co pay depending on the type of prescription. Generic, Brand name, Formulary and Non Formulary to name a few. Pay attention though, some of these plans limit prescription coverage to a dollar amount annually.

Another popular feature that is well like with the PPO is the Preventative Exam. Most of the plans offer some sort of Preventative care. This benefit might cover basic screenings, such as mammograms, pap smears and PSA screening. Be sure to pay attention to the maximum the will pay however.

Also many people assume that if you go for an office visit and you have labs or an x-ray it is covered with your co pay. This is often not the truth. You will be billed separately and the expense will fall under the deductible or co insurance rules.

You should really pay close attention to waivers, exclusions and waiting periods if you have any pre existing conditions. If you have medical condition this is probably the most important factor for you to understand. Sometimes these details are in the small print so dont skip over them.