What is a discount health insurance policy?   It can be a PPO or an HDHP.

PPO’s have a larger network of doctors and hospitals. The first patient expense is meeting a deductible. The patient’s expense after the deductible might be 10% for doctors and hospitals within the network. For those outside of the network the expense could be 20%-40%. With a PPO plan the patient does not need a referral by the primary doctor to see a specialist.

HDHP’s also work within the network of doctors/hospitals. There is a deductible to meet; it can be much higher than a PPO co-pay or an HMO deductible. This high deductible feather allows the premiums to be lower and thus more affordable for employers and uninsured individuals. The idea behind the design of a “high deductible” health plan was to keep the cost of insurance down by keeping patients more cost conscious. If the frivolous doctor visits were reduced because a high deductible had to be met before the insurance company’s pay any thing out for the claim, it would help employers, the uninsured, the entire health care system.

Both types of health insurance policies can be considered discount health insurance. This is because they are so much cheaper than traditional health plans. Traditional health plans have high deductibles and high co-pays. The typical co-pay of a traditional health plan is 80/20….interpretation is you pay 20% of all bills and the insurance company pays 80%….another interpretation – that can get very expensive even at “only 20%”