Accident & Health Insurance

There are many kinds of insurance, most of which work in cooperation with each other. If you are among the fortunate people whose employer offers reasonably priced group health, life, and accident insurance, you've probably got a reasonable understanding of what each type is, and likely carry at least health and accident insurance on yourself.

If you are not employed by a company that provides insurance benefits, or if you are, but don't yet qualify for them, you have to buy your health & accident insurance from private companies, of which there are many. Before you comparison shop, however, you should familiarize yourself with what health & accident insurance really are.

What is Health Insurance?

Health insurance traces its roots back to the year 1694, but it really only became popular in the late 19th century, at which time, it was more like what we now call disability, or accident insurance, because it only provided benefits if the person insured suffered injuries that could lead to permanent disability or death - it existed as a source of emergency care for the insured and their family. Normal medical issues had to be covered out-of-pocket on a fee-for-service basis, and this continued into the early part of the 20th century.

By the mid-to-late 20th century, old-style disability insurance had morphed into modern health insurance, and, as structured today, now offers comprehensive coverage of both preventive and routine medical care, as well as most emergency medical procedures and a good portion of necessary prescription drugs.

Modern health insurance policies are annual or monthly renewable contracts with the insurance company, and the policy holder pays a deductible plus a co-payment when claiming benefits. For routine doctor visits, usually just the co-pay is paid, while for a hospital stay the deductible will kick in - you would have to pay the first $1000 in fees, for example, as well as a certain amount per day in the hospital. Generally, there are caps on the amount of out-of-pocket payments in a single year, but there is also a lifetime cap on what the insurance company will pay.