Health Insurance Help Florida FL
Reader’s Question:
I was advised that I should get co-pay health insurance policy. What’s the difference between co-pays and co-insurance? Which one is better?
Dan
Jacksonville, FL
It’s good that you asked, Dan.
Although health insurance policies in Florida help you pay for your medical needs, they rarely cover 100% of the cost of you medical expenses. As a policyholder, you will be responsible for paying some of your medical expenses. It can either be a co-pay, which is a fixed dollar amount, or a co-insurance, which is a percentage of the total cost you are responsible to pay for.
Let’s say your insurer in Florida requires you to pay $20 for a prescription and the $20 is your co-pay which is commonly used for doctor visits. Say, some health insurance plans may require you to pay a $10 (or $20 or $50) as co-pay per doctor visit.
Some health company insurance companies will use co-insurance to share the cost of care with you. You will be required to pay for a percentage of your care instead of a fixed dollar amount once you have met your insurance plan’s deductible. If your plan may cover 80% of the cost of your hospital visit but you must pay the remaining 20%, then the 20% will be your co-insurance.
Notice too of the advantages when there is co-pay as opposed to the co-insurance. Here will be certain situations when the co-insurance. There are some situations when the co-insurance amount will be less than co-pay which will therefore make the co-pays more predictable and tend to keep out-of-pocket expenses out of control.
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