Basically there are two types of health insurance plans available in the United States. One is the Fee for Service health insurance and the other is the Managed Care Health Insurance. Though they differ from each other, they both cover prescription drugs, dental care and also medical, hospital and surgical costs.

In the fee for service plan, the insured patient can be examined by the doctor of his choice, and the medical professional receives a fee for each check up or any service he has provided the insured patient. This fee for service health insurance claim can be filed either by the patient himself or the doctor. In the Managed Care Health Insurance Plan, which the majority of Americans opt for, there are many types working differently, providing medical services to their customers and offering financial incentives to insured persons who choose to go the doctors mentioned in the managed care plan.

The first type is the Health Maintenance organization (HMO), which is the oldest form of organized health care. For predetermined charges, the HMO offers its members a choice of a wide variety of health care benefits. These also include preventive care. The insured person can opt for a group model HMO where the doctors are the employees of the health plan and they visit the patients at centralized clinics or medical centers. Or the Individual Practice Associations (IPA) where the HMOs enter into contract with physicians or doctors who could be consulted in their private offices. If the patient needs a specialist, he will have to coordinate with the primary care physician referred by the HMO. He will have to pay a predetermined sum of money for that visit in an expense sharing agreement and later most costs as a result of this visit will be covered by insurance.

The Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) is an organized health care that has agreements and contracts with hospitals that charge a lesser fee to the insurer than the usual. In this type, the patient has the freedom to make self-referrals, consulting with doctors from outside the PPO network. Here the patient would be reimbursed for only 70 per cent of the cost. The patient will also have to meet the difference in the charges between what the plan offers and what the provider charges.

Another variation is the Point of Service (POS). This facility is commonly seen in plans where the HMO offers a self-direct care to the insured patient. This is in place of a primary care physician, which the HMO offers. The primary care physician can be chosen from a network of doctors who monitor the health care of the patients. He can refer the patient to a doctor from outside the network but then he would only get a portion of the compensation. A co-payment will then have to be paid. Since the patients who opt for POS healthcare plans can choose their own doctors they have to understand the financial import of their choice. For all this, the paperwork has to be done by the patient who has chosen POS, which means that filling forms, sending medical bills and keeping an account of medical care receipts is the patient’s responsibility.

Earlier all Americans had an indemnity assurance coverage where they could go to any medical doctor and the insurance company would pay the medical bill along with the patient according to the contract signed in the beginning. Today health care has made such long strides that there are many choices for patients and the health insurance policies come in affordable and comprehensive packages.