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Definition: health insurance from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary

(1901) : insurance against loss through illness of the insured; esp : insurance providing compensation for medical expenses


health insurance

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
prepayment plan providing services or cash indemnities for medical care needed in times of illness or disability. It is effected by voluntary plans, either commercial or nonprofit, or by compulsory national insurance plans, usually connected with a social security program. Compulsory accident and sickness insurance was initiated (1883–84) in Germany by Otto von Bismarck; it was adopted by Great Britain, France, Chile, the Soviet Union, and other nations after World War I. In Britain the National Health Insurance Act of 1946, which went into effect in 1948, provided the most comprehensive compulsory medical care plan introduced anywhere up to that time. Under the plan the individual obtained free medical attention from any doctor participating in the national health service. The cost was met by the national government and local taxation; a small charge for some services has been instituted since then. In 1958 the Canadian Hospital and Diagnoses Act provided full hospital service almost…
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Full text Article Health Insurance

From Encyclopedia of Women's Health
Health insurance is a key factor facilitating access to health care services. Individuals without health insurance are often denied care, especially if the condition for which a patient is seeking care does not require any immediate attention and/or intervention. Uninsured and underinsured…
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Full text Article health insurance

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
prepayment plan providing services or cash indemnities for medical care needed in times of illness or disability. It is effected by voluntary plans, either commercial or nonprofit, or by compulsory national insurance plans, usually connected with a social security program. Compulsory accident and…
| 1,356 words
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Full text Article Health Insurance

From The Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of American Science, Medicine, and Technology
The history of health insurance in America is largely a twentieth-century story. Well beyond 1900, paying for medical care, with few exceptions, remained a private activity between patients and their physicians and hospitals. Widespread interest in sickness insurance—as it was originally called—did…
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Full text Article health insurance

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
System for the advance financing of medical expenses through contributions or taxes paid into a common fund to pay for all or part of health services specified in an insurance policy or law. The key elements are advance payment of premiums or taxes, pooling of funds, and eligibility for benefits on…
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Full text Article Health Insurance

From The Encyclopedia of Aging
Health insurance, like all insurance, is intended to partially financially insulate one from bad events. Plan elements commonly include a premium, deductible, co-pay or coinsurance, and a maximum out-of-pocket, among other specifics. The upfront cost (price) of a policy is called the premium . The…
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2018 Uninsured Rate in the United...
Section 7.1 State-by-State Health Insurance Coverage This section includes text excerpted from “State-byState Health Insurance Coverage in 2018,” United States Census Bureau, November 7, 2019. Across states, levels and types of health insurance coverage change over time because of economic…
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Full text Article Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

From Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health: Infancy Through Adolescence
The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is a cooperative federal-state program providing health insurance coverage to children in families with modest incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid. Since its passage in 1997, CHIP has been credited with significantly reducing the number of…
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Full text Article Children'S Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

From Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health
The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is a program in which the federal government matches state government funds to provide health coverage for children of families with too much income to qualify for Medicaid, but too little to afford private family health insurance. In 1997, CHIP was…
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Full text Article Navigating Health Insurance

From Harvard Medical School Guides
Posting Date: 11/01/2017 Insurance today Recent changes in the U.S. health care system have made decisions about health insurance more complicated and difficult, and potentially more risky — not only for your pocketbook, but also for your health, if you are unable to afford the care you and your…
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Full text Article Health Insurance Rights and Protections

From Health Reference Series: Guide to Buying Health Insurance Sourcebook Full text Article Navigating Health Insurance
Section 38.1 Workers’ Right to Health Plan Information This section contains text excerpted from the following sources: Text under the heading “Summary Plan Description” is excerpted from “Workers’ Right To Health Plan Information,” U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), November 2016. Reviewed July 2020; …
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