Personal medical insurance provides benefits for medical care. Prescription assistance programs may be included in some plans. A number of policies might provide for payment of health charges incurred on a reimbursement basis by paying benefits to the plan holder, payment on a service basis by paying those who provide the services directly, or payment of an indemnity by paying a set amount regardless of the sum charged for medical bills. Health expense or hospitalization insurance may possibly be written on an individual or group basis. A few of these plans will provide prescription help.

While there are various types of benefits offered, individual health expense coverage can normally be categorized as basic health expense coverage, major medical insurance, comprehensive medical insurance, and special plans. These policies should cover prescriptions because prescription drugs help so many people. The largest part of these programs have mostly been replaced by managed care options and are no longer offered as stand-alone programs. These types of plans have been modified and replaced in response to changes in the health care field relative to cost containment and market competition.

Basic health insurance provided by a personal health expense plan includes hospital expense, surgical expense and medical expense. These 3 basics might be sold together or individually. Frequently this is issued as “first dollar” coverage, which means it does not have a deductible.

As the name implies, hospital expense healthcare insurance provides benefits for visits incurred for the period of hospitalization. Hospital indemnities are commonly classified into two broad categories:

• Room and board, including nursing care and special diets

• Miscellaneous health charges, plus x-rays, laboratory fees, prescriptions, medical supplies, and operating and treatment rooms

In some cases, surgical benefits may be integrated for specified types of surgery and related expenses. Hospital expense insurance offers benefits for daily hospital room and board and miscellaneous hospital expenses while the insured person is confined to the hospital. The policy may possibly provide for a specific dollar amount for the daily hospital room and board benefit, although the tendency is in the direction of insurance of not more than the semiprivate room rate unless a private room is medically required. The room and board benefit could be paid on either an indemnity basis or a reimbursement basis, depending on the individual policy.

Indemnity policies are every so often called dollar amount policies. Room and board rates change by geographic location, however it is not uncommon to find room and board rates ranging from $150  to $950  per day or more.

Normally, the maximum number of days is from 60  to 550 . More commonly, room and board charges are paid on a reimbursement basis. This is {frequently referred to as an expenses-incurred basis~This is also known as a expenses incurred basis~This is often times called a expenses incurred basis}. Under this arrangement, the insurance will pay in one of two ways.

• The actual bills for a semiprivate room are covered.

• A percentage of the actual charge is paid, with no specific dollar limit.

Under the first reimbursement option, the healthcare insurance company will pay the full actual semiprivate room rate, regardless of what it is. Under the second reimbursement option, the medical insurance company pays a specific percentage, regardless of what the actual charges are. A frequent percentage is 80%.

To sum up, with the actual expenses form of reimbursement plan, the health insurance will pay the actual amount billed for a semiprivate room with no regard to a specific dollar limit. With the percentage style of reimbursement plan, the plan may pay a certain percentage of the actual bill.