A friend, who had been a dependent on her parents' insurance, recently graduated from college and was offered a full-time job.

A friend, who had been a dependent on her parents' insurance, recently graduated from college and was offered a full-time job. When she started to complete her human resource (HR) application, the HR manager asked her what type of healthcare plan she chose. Her new employer offered several different healthcare plans: fee-for-service, PPO, HMO, and POS plans. She was confused and asked you to explain the managed care plans to her.

Describe the characteristics of these healthcare plans and identify the differences between the HMO and PPO plans.