Health insurance

How it is used

Can be public (social or national health insurance) or private. Hospital managers deal with health insurance every day: checking a patient's cover, getting approval and sending claims. 'Health cover' and 'medical insurance' are common British alternatives.

Example sentences

1. About a third of our outpatients have private health insurance.

2. Patient registration checks health insurance details before the appointment, not after it.

Common collocations

• private health insurance
• national health insurance
• health insurance plan
• health insurance company
• complementary health insurance

Related terms

• payerAn organisation that pays for patients' healthcare, such as a government health fund, a social security institution or an insurance company.
• premiumThe amount a person or employer pays, usually every month or year, to keep a health insurance policy active.
• coverageThe range of treatments and costs that an insurance policy or public health system pays for, and the people who are protected by it.
• reimbursementThe money that an insurer or public payer pays a hospital or doctor for care already given to a patient, according to agreed rules and prices.
• universal health coverageA situation in which everyone can get the health services they need, when and where they need them, without suffering financial hardship.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• health insurance · Insurance
• health insurance · Immigration & Visas

More terms: Health Insurance and Reimbursement

• copayment
• deductible
• prior authorization
• fee-for-service
• capitation
• DRG
• out-of-pocket