Quick learning: Health insurance
About this video
Three rules decide what you pay for health care: your deductible (what you pay before insurance helps), copays (a fixed price for care, like $25 a visit) and your network (in-network doctors cost less than out-of-network ones). Knowing these helps you avoid surprise medical bills.
You'll be able to
- explain what a deductible and a copay are.
- explain why in-network care usually costs less.
Key words
- Deductible
- What you pay before insurance starts helping, e.g. the first $1,000.
- Copay
- A fixed price you pay for a type of care, like $25 for a doctor visit.
- In-network
- Doctors who have agreements with your insurer, so they cost you less.
- Out-of-network
- Doctors without an agreement with your insurer, which can cost a lot more.
Transcript
- Have you ever gone to the doctor and thought, "Why is this so expensive?" Here's the thing, health insurance uses a few rules to decide what you pay. Here are the big three. First, your deductible. This is what you pay before insurance helps. So if your deductible is $1,000, you pay the first $1,000.
Then insurance shares the cost until you reach the max. Next is copays. This is a fixed price for care, like $25 for a doctor visit. And this one matters a lot, your network. In-network doctors, they cost less because they have agreements with your insurance. Out of network, you could pay a lot more.
So these three things, your deductible, your copay and your network, they decide how much you pay. So understanding this, it's how you can avoid hopefully, those surprise medical bills.
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