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Health insurance is a policy or plan that can be purchased either by an employer or other group leader to protect constituent members of a business or group, or an individual directly from an insurance company. In addition to health insurance plans being made available by private health insurance companies, government agencies and social welfare programs may provide health insurance coverage to government employees or those in need e.g. destitute and elderly persons unable to work.
The concept of Health Insurance can be traced all the back to the very end of the seventeenth century when Hugh the Elder Chamberlen of the Peter Chamberlen family presented the idea. Despite this forward thinking on Hugh’s part Health Insurance as we know it didn’t come into existence until the early twentieth century when it was developed close to the time of World War II. Before this time limited ‘accident insurance’ that resembles disability insurance provided the foundation on which U.S. Health Insurance ideals and policies would be founded.

Before the advent of modern health insurance, patients would’ve been expected to pay for their services out of pocket. This is known as a fee-for-service model. We’re familiar with this concept since a free market economy operates on daily fee-for-service transactions (think buying a burger at a fast food joint); however, we probably would be a little surprised were all our medically-related transactions to start operating according to this model again. Current practice dictates that insurance companies bear the brunt of the cost.

While it may be true that our attitude is such that we believe Insurance Companies to bear the brunt of the cost, each policy varies enough that it’s possible that policy holders pay significant amounts of money before their policy kicks in.

Each policy stems from a contract in which the insurance company stipulates at what point and to what degree they will pay for medical services. Many policies require either a copayment for routine check-ups and services, or a co-insurance which means that the policy holder pays a given percent of each service. In addition to copayments (which means you pay a flat rate for check-ups or subscriptions and your insurance covers the rest) some policies require holders to pay a premium, or a yearly fee before the company begins to cover costs. Insurance companies can also require that a minimum amount of out-of-pocket expenses be reached before they will pay for additional services. Whether you’re seeking health insurance in Orange County, CA or NY, it pays to know the ins and outs of your policy so you can take full advantage of it.Whether you’re looking for Health Insurance in Orange County, or Life Insurance in San Diego County, Hughes Insurance Services (http://insuranceservicesca.com) offers competitive options to meet your needs. Art Gib is a freelance writer.