Washington residents who are shut out of the individual health plan market but can't afford the coverage offered by the state's last-resort insurance pool now have a slightly cheaper option.

The Department of Insurance has added a preferred provider organization (PPO) to the Washington State Health Insurance Pool (WSHIP), which previously offered only a more expensive traditional fee-for-service plan. Residents in counties where individual health plans aren't sold are eligible to buy coverage through WSHIP.

Premiums for the WSHIP health plans are determined by deductible, age, and location. For instance, the monthly premium for the PPO (called "Plan 3") for a 39-year-old in western Washington is $244.13 and $208.66 in eastern Washington. That compares to $298.17 and $254.85 under the fee-for-service plan (called "Plan 1"). Both plans offer a comprehensive benefit package, including hospitalization, mental illness treatment, hospice care, prescription drugs, skilled nursing care, and transplant surgery.

A PPO gives you the option of choosing any doctor or hospital, but pays a higher percentage of their fees if you choose one who is part of the provider network. The WSHIP PPO you must select an annual deductible of $500 or $1,000.

Washington reopened WSHIP in September 1999 to accommodate thousands of residents in 30 counties where insurers stopped selling individual health plans, citing the high costs of patient care. About 725 people are enrolled in WSHIP. Of those, 125 joined when it was reopened. The rest are Medicare-age residents who had been in the pool before it was temporarily closed.