The health insurance policy covers you against the medical expenses. This policy is gaining popularity because of the ever-increasing cost of medical treatment, hospitalization, and health maintenance costs.

You can buy the policy from a social insurance program sponsored by the government or from private insurance companies. The medical insurance cover may also include disabilities and long-term nursing care requirements of an individual or their dependents. Organizations often buy this cover for their employees on a group basis, known as group-health insurance.

Short-term health insurance policy is another type of health insurance you must be aware of. This policy can be purchased by current residents of US, people who are in-between jobs or who are waiting to buy another policy. This policy can also be bought by students or people who don't have any other medical cover.

In either case, health insurance or medical insurance is a contract between an organization or an individual and an insurance company, in which the insurance company promises to bear the medical expenses of the insured on the payment of an annual or biannual premium. The premium amount is calculated based on the overall risk of the medical expenses. The insurance contract copy contains a detailed summary of the medical expenses covered.

Serviced-care health insurance and Managed care health insurance are the two types of health insurance plans, people usually opt for. Both these plans not only cover the hospitalization and surgical costs, but also the dental care costs and costs for prescribed drugs. Some health care insurance plans you can choose from are:

- The PPO Plan or the Preferred Provider Organization

- The HMO Plan or the Health Maintenance Organization

- The POS Plan or the Point of Service Plan

As you know, just like individuals can buy medical cover for themselves, employers can also insure their employees and their dependents against medical emergencies. Such an insurance cover is known as group insurance policy. Some of the benefits of a group health insurance policy are:

- Just like monitory compensation paid annual or monthly, employees want a group insurance policy as a part of their compensation package. Most of the employers invest in this scheme to employee and retain the best personnel in the industry.

- Group insurance cover is usually cheaper than the individual insurance cover

- Group health insurance plans also provides tax benefits and incentives to the employer.

You can broadly categorize the group insurance plans into:

- Indemnity plans: People in the east coast of the US usually invest in the traditional Indemnity or the Fee for Service plans or the FFS plans as they are generally called. These plans provide you with a wider choice of hospitals and health care providers.

- Managed Care plans: These plans are more popular with the Western USA people as they involve less paperwork and out-of-pocket expenses.