Medical Insurance Co-payment - 3 Things You Might Not Know
3 crucial details that you should know about include the way your health care insurance plan limits them over the course of 12 months, how large they can be and the fact that sometimes more than just a copay will apply to one service. You may not know that you will probably have to keep paying copayments even after you have met your health care insurance plan's out-of-pocket maximum. You may also be very disappointed to learn that some co-pays can be $500. Another potential issue that you don't want to be hurt by is the fact that in certain situations both a copay and a deductible can apply to the same doctor visit or other treatment.
It is crucial to know about all not just the way your copays work but the other health insurance cost shares such as deductibles and coinsurance as well. Many policyholders make assumptions about their health insurance and get surprised when then have a hefty medical bill to pay. Don't let this happen to you.
Health care insurance copayments are different from deductibles and coinsurance. Both of the others are usually based on expenses over a 12-month period. Co-Pays are assessed on a per incident basis.
If you assume that once you have met your contract's deductible and maximum-out-of-pocket limits that you will not have to pay any more co-pays, you will probably be wrong. Many if not most health care insurance co will have nothing that limits the number of copays you can pay over the course of a year.
Another misconception is the assumption that copays are always reasonable. This is because the typical co-pays that most consumers pay are the relatively small dollar amounts that they might pay in health care professional's office or in the pharmacy. These co-pays are relatively insignificant for most insurance shoppers.
However, many medical insurance plans assess hefty co-pays for other medical services. You may pay a $50 copayment for each visit to a walk-in clinic. You could pay a $100 co-pay for each visit to the ER.
When purchasing health care insurance be sure that you don't assume that all plans are the same. You might find that you have to pay both a deductible and a copayment for certain services. You could find that there is a separate deductible for name brand prescriptions. These provisions arent in every policy, but they exist in enough of them to make it prudent to read your contract's literature closely.
Understanding how your plan works is essential to knowing if you are getting a good deal of if you should start shopping for another contract. Health insurance plans are often confusing and can take some effort to understand, however not knowing what you are getting usually means that you over pay for your plan.
Health Care insurance co-payments aren't always relatively small insignificant fees you pay in the doctor's office or pharmacy. Be sure that you understand how your co-payments are assessed in any policy you are considering purchasing before you sign your name on the dotted line.