Triple Option Plan

Plan that permits the insurance company to administer health care plans that permit the patient to choose from three benefit options at the time of need: Indemnity (insurance), Health Maintenance Organization (HMO), and Preferred Provider Organization (PPO). The indemnity plan, even though more costly, would provide the patient with the greatest number of choices among physicians and hospitals. The PPO would allow the patient to have more choices among physicians and hospitals than the HMO and would not require the patient to go through the primary care physician or gatekeeper, as the HMO requires. The HMO would be the lowest cost option (no deductible) but the most restrictive as to the patient's choice.