Some types of health insurance require a person to pay a co-pay at the time that they are seen by a doctor. Others will not. If your insurance plan wants you to pay a co-pay, then you need to find out how much that co-pay will be. Here is how to go about figuring out that important piece of information.
Today, I had reason to use my brand new health insurance plan for the very first time. The receptionist at my doctor’s office noted that I had new health insurance. She asked me what my co-pay was. I had no idea, because I’d never used the insurance before. Do you know what your co-pay is? If not, here are some steps you can use to help you figure that out.
Before I get too far ahead, I should probably explain what, exactly, a co-pay is. According to Investopedia, a co-pay is “A type of insurance policy where the insured pays a specified amount of out-of-pocket expenses for health-care services such as doctor visits and prescription drugs at the time the service is rendered, with the insurer paying the remaining costs. However, unlike coinsurance, where the insured is required to pay a certain percentage of covered costs, co-pay plans require the insured to pay a specified dollar amount”.
The first thing the receptionist at my doctor’s office did was flip over my insurance card. Some of them will have the cost of the co-pay printed somewhere on the back of the insurance card. This makes it extremely easy for everyone to figure out. If you are at the doctor’s office, then you are sick. Sick people tend to be a bit absent minded. Having the co-pay on the back of the card makes things easy.
My insurance card does not have the co-pay on the back. The receptionist decided to send the entire bill to my insurance company. It is expected that my insurance company will refuse to pay the amount that I am supposed to be paying for the co-pay. The insurer will send that bill to my doctor’s office. It will be sent to me to pay. This is another way to find out how much my co-pay will be.
You probably received a big booklet of information from your health insurance company when you first got approved. Somewhere inside it, there should be information about what your co-pay will cost. It will very likely be in the form of a chart. There will be a price listed for the co-pay that you must pay when you see an in-network provider. There will also be a percentage rate of how much of the bill you must pay if you see a provider that is outside of your network.
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