diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index d39f3173..b4cc72b4 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@
 
 * Improve cumulative flagging to apply first-occurrence logic more effecently.
 
+* Extend documentation for the expected default behavior between the
+  present-on-admission flags and `flag.method` argument in `comorbidities()`
+  (re: #28)
+
 # medicalcoder 0.7.0
 
 ## Bug Fixes
diff --git a/R/comorbidities.R b/R/comorbidities.R
index 69c19b55..ae3d6b5f 100644
--- a/R/comorbidities.R
+++ b/R/comorbidities.R
@@ -43,6 +43,18 @@
 #' have better performance than using the date and will clear up any possible
 #' issues with non-sequential encounter ids from the source data.
 #'
+#' **Cumulative + POA defaults:**
+#'
+#' When `flag.method = "cumulative"` and neither
+#' `poa` nor `poa.var` is supplied, the first encounter for a condition is
+#' treated as `poa = 0`. Subsequent encounters for that condition are flagged as
+#' `poa = 1`.
+#'
+#' When `flag.method = "current"` and neither `poa` nor `poa.var` is supplied,
+#' then all codes will be considered present-on-admission.  If poa was assumed
+#' to be 0, then in this case the only conditions that could be flagged are the
+#' Elixhauser conditions which are poa-exempt.
+#'
 #' @return
 #'
 #' The return object will be slightly different depending on the value of
@@ -552,7 +564,10 @@ comorbidities.data.frame <- function(data,
 
     cmrb <- do.call(rbind, foc)
 
-    # set poa to 1 and primarydx to 0 for prior conditions
+    # Carry condition forward after first occurrence: set poa to 1 and
+    # primarydx to 0 on later encounters so downstream POA filtering keeps
+    # all post-first-occurrence rows and the first-occurrence row only if poa =
+    # 1 (via poa.var or poa) for the first-occurrence
     idx <- cmrb[[encid]] > cmrb[["first_occurrance"]]
     cmrb[[poa.var]][idx] <- 1L
     if (!is.null(primarydx.var)) {
diff --git a/man/comorbidities.Rd b/man/comorbidities.Rd
index 28867701..f890bb50 100644
--- a/man/comorbidities.Rd
+++ b/man/comorbidities.Rd
@@ -192,6 +192,18 @@ correctly stored. Adding a column \code{enc_seq}, e.g.,\tabular{cccc}{
 and calling \code{comorbidities()} with \code{id.vars = c("patid", "enc_seq")} will
 have better performance than using the date and will clear up any possible
 issues with non-sequential encounter ids from the source data.
+
+\strong{Cumulative + POA defaults:}
+
+When \code{flag.method = "cumulative"} and neither
+\code{poa} nor \code{poa.var} is supplied, the first encounter for a condition is
+treated as \code{poa = 0}. Subsequent encounters for that condition are flagged as
+\code{poa = 1}.
+
+When \code{flag.method = "current"} and neither \code{poa} nor \code{poa.var} is supplied,
+then all codes will be considered present-on-admission.  If poa was assumed
+to be 0, then in this case the only conditions that could be flagged are the
+Elixhauser conditions which are poa-exempt.
 }
 \examples{
 pccc_v3.1_results <-
diff --git a/tests/test-poa-in-cumulative.R b/tests/test-poa-in-cumulative.R
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fb08ba89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-poa-in-cumulative.R
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+library(medicalcoder)
+
+# Verifies cumulative flagging behavior for Charlson when poa/poa.var is omitted.
+# Expected default: first encounter for a condition is NOT flagged (poa defaults
+# to 0), but the condition carries forward and is flagged on later encounters
+# (poa set to 1 after first occurrence). Explicit poa = 1 should flag all
+# encounters.
+
+df <- data.frame(
+  patid = c(1L, 1L),
+  enc   = c(1L, 2L),
+  icdv  = c(10L, 10L),
+  dx    = c(1L, 1L),
+  code  = c("I252", "I252"),
+  stringsAsFactors = FALSE
+)
+
+# Baseline: explicit poa = 1 flags the condition under cumulative logic
+explicit_poa <- comorbidities(
+  data        = df,
+  icd.codes   = "code",
+  id.vars     = c("patid", "enc"),
+  icdv.var    = "icdv",
+  dx.var      = "dx",
+  method      = "charlson_quan2011",
+  flag.method = "cumulative",
+  poa         = 1L,
+  primarydx   = 0L
+)
+
+stopifnot(any(explicit_poa[["cmrb_flag"]]))
+stopifnot(
+  explicit_poa$cmrb_flag[explicit_poa$enc == 1L] == 1L,
+  explicit_poa$cmrb_flag[explicit_poa$enc == 2L] == 1L
+)
+
+# Without specifying poa/poa.var, encounter 1 should remain unflagged and
+# encounter 2 should be flagged.
+default_poa <- comorbidities(
+  data        = df,
+  icd.codes   = "code",
+  id.vars     = c("patid", "enc"),
+  icdv.var    = "icdv",
+  dx.var      = "dx",
+  method      = "charlson_quan2011",
+  flag.method = "cumulative",
+  primarydx   = 0L
+)
+
+stopifnot(
+  default_poa$cmrb_flag[default_poa$enc == 1L] == 0L,
+  default_poa$cmrb_flag[default_poa$enc == 2L] == 1L
+)
diff --git a/vignettes/comorbidities.Rmd b/vignettes/comorbidities.Rmd
index 0c3180f0..64188f4a 100644
--- a/vignettes/comorbidities.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/comorbidities.Rmd
@@ -304,6 +304,14 @@ tab <- add_header_above(tab, c(" " = 2L, c("POA = 0" = 6L, "POA = 1" = 6L, "poa.
 tab
 ```
 
+### Flag method and POA defaults
+
+When `flag.method = "cumulative"` and you do *not* supply `poa` or `poa.var`,
+`comorbidities()` treats the first encounter where a condition appears as
+`poa = 0` and carries that condition forward with `poa = 1` on later encounters.
+
+When `flag.method = "current"` and you do *not* supply `poa` or `poa.var`,
+`comorbidities()` treates all ICD codes as `poa = 1`.
 
 # Mapping ICD Codes to Comorbidities