Two plans: What’s the difference?
While Penn State’s two plans – PPO Plan and PPO Savings Plan – share the same provider network and cover the same medical services, they differ in the way a plan member’s out-of-pocket expenses are structured. The video below briefly explains how the plans differ. Please note that all plan comparisons, plan designs and cost examples reference the 2017 plan details.
Find more detailed explanations on how the two plans work at the links below.
Each Plan’s Out-of-pocket Expenses
When choosing the health care plan that best meets the needs of employees, one consideration is out-of-pocket expenses. Learn how payroll or premium contributions, deductibles, coinsurance and copayments impact the cost of your plan.
How Each Plan Works
Once you’re familiar with the out-of-pocket expenses, you can track the path of cumulative (increasing) out-of-pocket expenses until they meet the total out-of-pocket maximum on color-coded graphics, and review scenarios below that explain how each expense is recorded for both individual and family plans, and applied to the total out-of-pocket maximum.
PPO Savings Plan – How it works
Determining your Risk Tolerance for health care spending
Factors to consider before choosing between the more predictable, but higher fixed-costs of the low-deductible PPO Plan, and the more variable costs of the PPO Savings Plan.
How does Penn State’s self-funded health care plan work?
Learn how Penn State’s self-funded, or self-insured, plan allows for more control over the plan design, which can lead to the creation of plans that are geared toward what the employee population wants and needs.