Insurance

There are different types of health insurance that people can choose from. The three main ones are PPOs (preferred provider organization), HMOs (health maintenance organization), and HDHPs (high deductible health plan). HMO's plan is one of the cheapest types of health insurance. The doctor's visits have fixed copays and it has low deductibles and premiums. This plan provides doctors within their network that you have to choose from to be your personal care provider. This doctor will control all of your health services. PPOs have higher premiums but allow you to see out of network doctors and specialists. In-network doctors have low copays and coinsurance. HDHPs have low premiums but higher out-of-pocket costs. HDHP can save people money in the long run, if they are managing a health condition but can't afford higher monthly premiums. 

Within the different types of healthcare, there are deductibles, copays, premiums, and in-network and out-of-network costs that people need to pay that contribute to the costs of healthcare. In-network care providers are ones that the insurance companies have an agreement with to provide healthcare at a reduced cost for the people that company insures. Out-of-Network healthcare providers do not have an agreement with your insurance company. This means using out-of-network services will cost more than in-network services. A deductible is the amount of money an insured person must pay before the insurance actually starts working. Deductibles renew yearly. For example, If someone has a deductible of $2,000 they have to pay for the first $2,000 of care before the insurance starts paying. Some services do not require a deductible and are covered by insurance automatically. Premiums are a monthly fee paid to an insurance company to buy a policy. These need to be paid whether or not someone is receiving medical expenses. Premiums are the main source of revenue for insurance companies, which means that for them to make a profit they need to be receiving more in premiums than they are giving out in benefits. For most families, healthcare premiums are the highest healthcare cost. Usually, someone's place of work will pay for most of your premiums. Copays are fees you pay each time you see a medical provider. Insurance companies use copays to split medical costs with the policyholders. For in-network services, the copays are much less than out of network services. Usually, there is an annual or lifetime cap on how much someone pays in copays. For example, If someone's cap is $3,000, after they pay that amount in copays they no longer have to pay for medical services out of pocket and their insurance will cover every other expense fully. The different plans have benefits and negatives, but it is the deductibles, copays, premiums, out-of-network and in-network costs that contribute to the cost of healthcare.