Co-Pays

A co-pay or co-payment is a fixed payment that a person pays for a particular good or service. Co-pays are most often associated with health insurance. It may be that you are covered by insurance that entitles you to see a doctor when you are sick but the insurance company requires that you must pay a certain amount, the co-pay, to visit your doctor. The co-payments vary but usually are between $10 and $50 per visit. The intention of the co-pay is twofold. As the cost of health care increases, it provides a way in which the insured shares in the increasing cost of health care, as well as a way to discourage participants from using the system unnecessarily, thereby decreasing the costs of providing ...