What is health insurance and how it works and what are the best types of plans?

Health care insurance is a type of insurance coverage that covers the cost of medical and surgical expenses for the insured.

Insurance companies use the term "provider" to describe a hospital or clinic, doctor, laboratory, health care practitioner, or pharmacy that treats an individual. The "Insured" is the owner of a health insurance policy or person with health insurance coverage.

It depends on the type of insurance, whether the insured pays the costs of his pocket and receives reimbursements, or makes insured payments directly to the provider.

Countries that do not have universal health coverage, such as the United States, usually include health insurance packages in favor of the employer.

In the United States, the number of people with insurance decreased from 44 million in 2013 to 28 million in 2016, researchers put this to recent changes in legislation, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The Commonwealth Fund reported in 2011 that a quarter of US citizens of working age with experience had a gap in health insurance coverage. Many people have lost their health insurance survey due to the fact that they either lost their jobs or were changed.

The level of emergency treatment varies with the type of health insurance contracted.

What types of health insurance?

- There are two basic types of health insurance:

Private health insurance:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that the US healthcare system relies heavily on private health insurance. In a National Health Survey interview, researchers found that 65.4 percent of people under the age of 65 in the United States had a type of private health insurance coverage.

Government or public health insurance:

This type of insurance is a health care benefit from the state in return for premium. Such as health care, medical assistance, health management, veterans, the Indian Health Service or the United States Public Health Insurance.

Other types

Managed Care Plans:

In managed care plans, the insurance company contracts healthcare networks to provide low-cost medical care to their medical insurance cardholders. Additional fines and costs are added to hospitals and clinics outside this network with some treatments provided as the higher the cost, the more likely they are available.

Fees, or Indemnity-for-service plans: 

This plan covers treatment fees for all healthcare providers equally, allowing the insured to choose his or her preferred treatment. The insurance company will pay at least 80 percent of the treatment costs on the compensation plan, and the patient pays the remaining costs as co-insurance.

Point of Service Plans (POS):

The POS plan acts as a combination of HMO and PPO. The insured can choose to coordinate all treatments through a primary care physician, receive treatment within an insurance provider's network, or using off-grid providers. The type of plan will dictate the progress of treatment.

Health maintenance organizations (HMOs):

These are organizations that provide medical care directly to the insured. The policy usually has a primary care physician who coordinates all necessary care.

HMO usually funds the treatment referred by this doctor and a negotiation fee will be charged for each medical service to reduce costs. This is usually the cheapest type of plan.

Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs):

The PPO is similar to a compensation plan, allowing the insured to visit any doctor he prefers.

PPO also has a network of accredited service providers who have negotiated costs with them.

The insurance company will pay less for treatment with off-line providers. However, people in the PPO plan can refer to specialists without having to see a primary care physician.