What Does It Mean To Have A Deductible On Health Insurance? 
As + Larry Gilmore and + Tony Canas have indicated , the deductible is an amount you must pay before accessing the major medical portion of your health insurance plan . Some health insurance plans have copay 's for items such as doctor and Rx while others are simple catastrophic plans where you are responsible for paying all illness and accident related claims before the plan pays anything . If your plan has doc & Rx copay 's you generally do not have to meet the deductible before the plan pays . Regardless of whether your plan has copay 's or not , keep in mind you are not paying the `` full retail '' price of care when you are in the deductible phase . If you are using par -LRB- network -RRB- providers , you are only paying the negotiated rate for your care . Also some plans have zero coinsurance after the deductible , meaning the carrier pays 100 % of your approved major medical related claims when using par providers . 