What is the differance between a copay and coinsurance?

by murph » Mon Jul 21, 2008 09:13 pm
Posts: 53
Joined: 18 Jul 2008

can anyone tellme the difference?

Total Comments: 10

Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 09:25 pm Post Subject:

I think this belongs in health insurance, but here is the difference.

Copay is a set dollar amount you pay for smaller services such as doctor visits and tests, etc.

Co-insurance is the percentage you pay after meeting your deductible for more expensive services such as hospitalizations and surgery.

for example if you have a 80/20 plan you pay 20% after deductible and the insurance company pays 80% after you meet the deductible.

Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 06:41 am Post Subject:

Both co-pay and co-insurance are devised to prevent the possibilities health insurance scams from the patient's side. Health insurance plans pay for the medical expenses, but that is rarely 100%. The health insurance providers require the applicant to pay a certain share of the entire medical cost in the form of copay and coinsurance. And the amount of copay/coinsurance gets decided at the time of applying for the policy and plays a role in determining the premium rate.

Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 07:24 am Post Subject:

Right, both copay and coinsurance are associated with health plans.

Co-pay- when the policy paper describes that the policy holder is required to pay a fixed amount everytime towards the treatment (doctors' visits, prescription drugs) before the policy benefits kicks in.

Coinsurance-the coinsurance is same as copay. However, the only difference is that it is described as a percentage of the total cost of the medical care.

Coinsurance has certain demerits, as it is described as a percentage of the total cost, it is tend to vary with the amount of the care received, whereas, the amount of co-pay will remain fixed throughout, and thus is more predictable in terms of the out-of-the-pocket pay.

Thanks,
Carol

Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 05:40 pm Post Subject: Link

Here is a link to a website that has a glossary of terms that you may find useful... whataquote.com. Look under the Resources section.

*link deactivated as per the forums rules

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 01:48 pm Post Subject:

These terms are very confusing to my clients so I created a blog entry entitled " Health Insurance definitions: What is a deductible?"

It explains the differences between deductibles, co-pays, coinsurance and out-of-pocket maximums. If you are interested, click on the blog link in my signature.

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 06:35 pm Post Subject:

here is an article about it:
"http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Difference-Between-Copay-and-Coinsurance&id=291513"


[link deactivated according to forum rules]

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 04:54 am Post Subject: Co-payment and coinsurance

Co-payment is a specific flat amount that your health insurance plan may require you to pay for a specific service.

Coinsurance is sharing a percentage of medical cost between the insured and the insurance company. It is paid after the payment of deductible.

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 06:32 am Post Subject:

Co pay and coinsurance may be quite confusing for many since it seems that they may be just the same thing. But, the fact is they are quite different from each other. Co-payment is supposed to be a flat fee that you pay each time you go for any health related services.

Coinsurance is a percentage of the cost of health-related services that you share with your insurer after you have met the deductible. Usually, it is 20% - 30% of what is approved by your health plan.

Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 05:33 pm Post Subject: AfCspcgmQNvkQlV

Copay.. Ho-o-o-o-t :)

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2011 08:56 am Post Subject: lKliKUlqRlC

Copay.. Corking :)

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