also called coinsurance
A share of the bill you keep paying as a percentage after your deductible or excess is met, for example the insurer pays 80 percent and you pay the remaining 20 percent.
Co-insurance is a share of a bill you keep paying as a percentage even after your deductible or excess is met, for example the insurer covers most of it and you cover the rest. People often assume that once the deductible is paid the insurer picks up everything, then find they still owe a slice. On a large hospital bill that percentage can add up fast, which is exactly why the out-of-pocket maximum on a policy matters.
You clear your deductible early in a hospital stay and relax, thinking the insurer now covers the whole thing. The final bill still leaves you owing your co-insurance share of a large total, and it is only then that the out-of-pocket cap in your policy, or the lack of a good one, really registers.
People assume that once the deductible is paid the insurer covers everything, then find they still owe a slice of a large bill. On a serious hospital stay that percentage can be a lot of money, which is why the out-of-pocket maximum matters.
The difference is the whole point, so here is each one in a line.
These split into the slice of each bill you carry and the ways an insurer pays less or nothing.
A deductible or excess is a fixed amount you pay before cover starts, the same idea in US and British wording; a co-pay is a fixed charge each time; and co-insurance is a percentage you keep paying after that.
A claim excess is that fixed slice on an approved claim.
Premium loading is a higher price charged because you are higher risk, while claim repudiation is a refused claim and a voided policy is cover treated as never valid, usually because something was not disclosed.
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