Health insurance deductible is a fixed amount of money you must pay every year before your insurance fully kicks in. After you pay this amount, your health insurance starts to pay its share of your medical bills. There is no assurance that when you pay your deductible in full, the insurance company will cover your entire medical payment from that point on.
You will still have to split the costs through coinsurance or co-pay until you hit the out of pocket limit. The deductible is the amount every patient must pay out of their pocket, including co-pays, deductibles, and coinsurance.On the other hand, co-pay is the fixed amount of money you need to pay each time you visit you visit a health care provider, like a doctor, and for all prescriptions filled through the pharmacy. Co-pay allows the health insurance company to share bills with you.
The co-pay amount typically depends on the type of doctor you need to see, and it varies based on the types of medications you will need to purchase in terms of generic or brand name drugs. It may also hinge on whether you see a doctor within your health insurance network. The main feature of co-pay is that once you pay the fixed amount, the health insurance company covers the rest of the bill. You must pay both your deductible and co-pay for the health insurance company to protect you.