The Co-Insurance is the amount you pay for specific services. The amount of the coinsurance amount is a percentage of the total cost. There are some important differences between a policy that requires the insured to pay a percentage and a policy that has a co-payment.

You may find that the co-insurance policy is less expensive. That’s because there’s the potential for your portion to be higher. By contrast, some policies require that you pay a set amount for every office visit - usually $20 or $25. As the consumer, you can see that you’d be ahead on a typical office visit if you’re paying a coinsurance payment. A consumer required to pay twenty percent of a $50 office visit will only be paying $10. While that sounds great, there are other important aspects to consider.

A co-insurance policy typically requires that the consumer pay a deductible before the insurance picks up any of the cost. Most doctors can do X-rays, blood work and other testing in their offices. If you have co-insurance, you’ll pay a percentage of all those costs. A co-pay policy will typically require that you pay only the set amount - regardless of the total cost of the visit.

So which is better? It all depends on you - the consumer. Consider whether you’ll be able to comfortably meet the deductible as you compare costs. If the coinsurance has a $1,000 per-family member deductible, you may find that you aren’t even meeting that amount in a year’s time, which means you’ve paid the premiums but have still paid the complete cost of your health care.