Not a direct answer to your question of whether Pod::Html should be kicked out, but have you tried Mr. Burke's Pod::Simple? Here's what your code would look like with P::S

use Pod::Simple::HTML;

my $p = Pod::Simple::HTML->new;
$p->output_string(\my $html);
## assuming $pod_snippet already exists
$p->parse_string_document($pod_snippet);
[download]

Apparently it's all the rage these days with them kids, and also might make you forget all about Pod::Html ;)
HTH

_________
broquaint