What Does It Mean To Have A Deductible On Health Insurance? 
Think of the deductible as a form of self insurance . In other words , the portion you 'll pay before insurance begins to pay on claims . Health plans usually offer a choice of deductibles have a lower premium cost if you choose a higher deductible . A higher deductilbe means you accept more cost upfront for the use of a health plan in order to receive a lower premium cost . After the deductible has been met , usually you go into a phase called `` co-insurance '' . Co-insurance is the phase where you and the insurance company split the bill for care . A co-insurance level may be 50-50 , 60-40 , 70-30 or other combinations depending on your plan . For example if you had a plan with a 80/20 coinsurance provison and a $ 500 deductible and a bill for $ 2500 for a service . How it would be split up is as follows . The first $ 500 of the bill is yours . Of the remaining $ 2000 , the insurance company pays $ 1600 towards the bill and you have an additional $ 400 . Please note : once you 've met your deductible for the year , you will no longer be charged it for claims , Co-insurance would be next . Then once you 've met your co-insurance limits , your claims for the balance of the year -LRB- not counting copays -RRB- are covered at 100 % . 