What Is Health Insurnace

Almost all health insurance policies have a deductible. A deductible is a minimum amount that the insured individual has to pay before the insurance begins to pay. Some policies pay all of the expenses after the deductible has been met. Other insurance policies pay a portion of the expenses, sometimes paying all of the expenses after a predetermined amount has been reached.

Many insurance policies also require their insured customers to pay co-pays. Co-pays are small charges that the insured person pays at the time of the doctor's visit or hospital stay. Co-pays range in size from a couple of dollars to several hundreds of dollars, depending on the policy and the type of care being given.

Health insurance policies can be either individual policies or group policies. Individual policies are the policies that individual people buy for themselves to use. These policies tend to be more expensive and cover less medical care options than group policies. Group policies are purchased for several people at one time, usually by an employer. Because there are more policies being purchased at one time, group policies tend to have more affordable premiums than individual policies. Also, group policies have better coverage in many situations.

People who have health insurance can get discounts for medical care. Because the insurance company has a huge customer base to use when negotiating prices with medical professionals, they can get reduced prices for procedures. Even if you have a deducible you have to meet before your health insurance policy will pay, these discounts can help your medical care become more affordable.