Innovation and cooperation are at the center of the human evolution story. New ideas are designed to cut out the profitable paths, and the insurance industry is no stranger to them. Co-Payment in Health Insurance plans is yet another step in the same direction to increase profits, reduce costs and present a win-win situation for both the insurers and the insured. A health policy with a co-pay clause, under the right circumstances, can be of great benefit to all parties involved.
Co-payment is simply an agreement between an insured and the insurer wherein the insured undertakes to pay a specified percentage of hospitalization expenses out of his pocket while the remaining amount will be given by the insurer as per the terms of the health plan. This percentage could vary between 10-30% of the sum assured.
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Working of the Co-payment Clause
Consider a situation where you get hospitalized, and the total bill comes up to Rs. 1,00,000/-. Now, with a 10% co-pay clause, you will have to pay Rs. 10,000/- on your own while the balance Rs. 90,000/- will be paid by the insurer.
Advantages of Co-payment
- A higher co-payment percentage means a lower premium for the insured. Since the insurers’ risk goes down, they don’t mind, offering discounts on the health insurance plans to seek more customers.
- The insurance provider’s profitability increases as a 10% co-payment would straightaway mean a saving of 10% for them.
- This clause also helps by discouraging customers from going for luxurious hospital care or boutique hospitals for every little ailment. Since the insured would know that he has to bear a part of the cost, he would only opt for necessary treatments and that too at reasonable hospitals as per the policy conditions.
- Unnecessary claims go down, again because the insured would not like to file a claim for every little medical treatment they undertake. For example, treatment for regular colds or gastric problems may not earn enough claims compared to the effort one has to put in to submit claims and do the paperwork and the fact that he has to pay the specified percentage of expenses as a co-payment.
Disadvantages of Co-payment
- If you are old, then the chances of you getting hospitalized and availing of health policy benefits are higher. In such a case, if you involve a co-payment clause to reduce the premium, you might end up paying higher hospital bills from your own pocket rather than saving any money.
- Also, if the co-payment amount is way too high, the insured might decide to totally avoid adequate medical care. This would negate the whole purpose of buying health insurance plans.
- Co-payment in Health Insurance works well if you don’t have to file for claims so that you can enjoy low premiums. But if you do have to file for claims due to your ill health, there are chances that your out-of-pocket expenses might be substantial enough to counter any advantage you had with small premiums.
Co-payment works best if you are young, hale, and hearty and the probability of you getting hospitalized is extremely low. This would mean lower premiums for you. However, if you are a senior citizen or suffer from some critical illnesses or other diseases, co-payment might prove very costly for you.
A health insurance policy is designed to help you save on massive health care expenses in today’s elevating medical inflation. With co-payment, you agree to share the risks of the insurance provider in return for low premiums. Take the decision only if you are sure that the benefits outweigh the risks associated with this clause.
Is co-pay a good option?
If we are talking about the co-pay option, we have to talk about two different scenarios; first, we try to find the answer from the customer’s perspective, and after that, we will try to take a proper view of the co-pay option with the insurance company.
As we know that co-pay is available under health insurance and along with the insured, the insurer also pays the hospitalization expenses. The way insurance services make their place in the Indian market, with the same way services like; health insurance is becoming expensive and most demanded service and insurance companies always come with some extra coverage and more benefits. Co-pay is one of the covers that come under health insurance coverage and people also adore this kind of service.
Co-Payment in Health Insurance
| Pros | Cons |
| Co-pay is a good option, and the way the co-pay option serves is like someone is with you for making things easy for you. | Sometimes people are afraid to make a claim even in a serious situation, just because they also have to pay 1 portion of the hospital expenses. |
| Expenses paying ratio is up to 10-30%, and with health insurance “co-pay” option is like ‘icing on the cake’. | Apart from this, in this option, you have to go through a lot of unnecessary paperwork and documents. This is why people also don’t like to claim for themselves. Co-pay discourages the misuse of health insurance policies. |
| Health is our first priority and being healthy is our first motive. But no one knows when you get sick and you have to be admitted to the hospital. In this situation, you need someone who can pay expenses for you, and co-pay is the best thing. Co-pay eases your burden. | Sometimes people take the wrong coverage of health insurance and they just try to make a fake claim. In this situation “co-pay” option can make things clear, under insurance coverage if you have to pay expenses too, you will never claim. Co-pay encourages honest and judicious use of health insurance policies. |