Health insurance is a contract where an insurance company pays for all or some of your medical expenses in exchange for regular payments called premiums.
How It Works
- Premium: The regular amount you pay (monthly or yearly) to keep your insurance active.
- Deductible: The amount of money you must pay out-of-pocket for medical care before your insurance starts paying.
- Copay or Coinsurance: A fixed fee or percentage of the bill you pay when you visit a doctor or get medicine.
- Coverage: What the plan pays for, such as hospital stays, surgeries, doctor visits, and preventive care. [
Main Types of Plans
- HMO (Health Maintenance Organization): Requires you to see doctors within a specific network and often needs a referral to see a specialist.
- PPO (Preferred Provider Organization): Gives you more freedom to see any doctor without a referral, though staying in-network costs less.
- Government Plans: Public programs like Medicare or Medicaid assist seniors, people with disabilities, or low-income families.
