Lately, we have been hearing a lot on television about co-payments in health insurance. In this post we will see exactly what they are, how they are applied and our opinion about them. We will see what is the big difference between health insurance with co-payment and without co-payment and which one is of interest in each case.
Co-payment in health insurance
The co-payment, as defined by many insurance companies, consists of a “small” amount that must be assumed by the insured of a health care policy, each time he/she makes use of it. We put “small” in quotation marks because in some cases the amount can be up to 100 € per use.
What is health insurance with no co-payment?
From this definition, it is easy to see what health insurance without co-payment consists of. In this type of insurance, the amount is the same, regardless of the number of visits you have made to the doctor’s office or the type of tests you have undergone. In other words, the cost will not change at the end of the month.
Difference between insurance with and without copayment
Therefore, the fundamental difference between a policy with co-payments and without co-payments is:
- With co-payments: the insured assumes a part of the cost of the service, each time the policy is used: per visit to the specialist, per intervention, per use of diagnostic means…
- No co-payments: the insured pays his or her monthly premium, but does not have to worry about paying anything each time he or she goes to the specialist, since everything is assumed in full by the company.
Why do policies with co-payments arise?
Its origin was the idea of the insurance companies. They are intended to make their policyholders aware that using the policy has a cost, and they share this cost with the users, with the aim of limiting the use of the policy to the minimum necessary.
Precisely for this reason, in our Insurance Brokerage we are not in favor of offering policies with co-payments to a client from the beginning, unless they expressly ask us to do so.
Why? Because we understand that the person who assumes a significant cost in their health insurance, what they least want is to have to face an extra cost. It seems to us to be a contradiction, although we have to do the math to find out whether we are really interested in the co-payment or not.
Group rates in health insurance
The advantage of health insurance with co-payments is that it is somewhat cheaper than a policy without co-payments. However, our Insurance Brokerage has special agreements with different insurance companies that allow us to match those prices or improve them, even in policies without co-payments.
As we bring them hundreds of policyholders a year, companies are willing to give us rates that improve on the individual prices that customers can find by going directly to the company.
If you want us to advise you on your health insurance, contact us, and put yourself in good hands.
