Surgeons perform an operation. To deal with the unforeseeable risks to health through accident or illness, various types of health insurance programs have been devised. The insurers may be private companies or governments. In some countries no insurance companies offer health care because governments have taken over the entire responsibility.
China is a primary example.
The United States has a combination of private and government-sponsored insurance. Some government programs are limited to specific groups within the population, such as veterans, members of the armed forces, and government employees. Others, specifically Medicare and Medicaid, are open to most of the population. The purpose of health insurance is to provide protection against loss of income and to cover the expenses of hospitalization and some of its associated costs. Some policies also carry disability provisions, which will pay insured individuals should they be unable to work because of extended illness or permanent physical disability.