What Is Health Insurance And How Does It Work? 
Health insurance is a type of insurance coverage that pays for medical and surgical expenses caused by illness or bodily injury of the insured person . It can be purchased privately , provided by an employer , or , as in the case of Medicaid or Medicare , be provided by the government . Payments for medical services can either be paid by the health insurance company directly to the health care provider , or it can be paid to the insured person to reimburse them for payments made , or a combination of both . There generally is a deductible , which is the amount the insured person must pay for health care received until the insurance plan then starts to pay . And there is usually a co-pay , which is a % of the health care expenses incurred above the deductible , or else is paid for predefined services for which the deductible does not enter in . 