Individual health insurance provides benefits for medical care. Prescription assistance programs can be included in some policies. Some programs may well provide for payment of medical bills incurred on a reimbursement basis by paying benefits to the plan owner, payment on a service basis by paying those who provide the services directly, or payment of an indemnity by paying a prearranged sum regardless of the amount charged for medical visits. Medical expense or hospitalization coverage may possibly be issued on an individual or group basis. Some of these plans will provide prescription help.

Although there are many types of benefits offered, personal medical expense insurance will usually be categorized as basic medical expense insurance, major medical coverage, comprehensive medical insurance, and special programs. These Programs should cover prescriptions because prescription drugs help so many people. The largest part of these policies have mainly been replaced by managed care plans and are no longer offered as stand-alone policies. These types of programs have been adapted and replaced in answer to changes in the health care field relative to cost control and market competition.

Basic insurance provided by a individual medical expense policy includes hospital expense, surgical expense and medical expense. These 3 basics can be sold together or separately. Frequently this is written as "first dollar" insurance, which means it does not contain a deductible.

As the name implies, hospital expense medical insurance provides benefits for bills incurred during hospitalization. Hospital indemnities are more often than not classified into 2 broad categories:

• Room and board, as well as nursing care and special diets

• Miscellaneous medical expenses, including x-rays, laboratory fees, drugs, medical supplies, and operating and treatment rooms

In several cases, surgical benefits possibly will be built-in for a number of types of surgery and related expenses. Hospital expense insurance provides benefits for daily hospital room and board and various hospital bills while the insured individual is confined to the hospital. The policy may possibly provide for a certain dollar amount for the daily hospital room and board benefit, though the movement is toward healthcare insurance of not more than the semiprivate room charge unless a private room is medically needed. The room and board benefit may well be paid on either an indemnity basis or a reimbursement basis, depending on the specific plan.

Indemnity plans are every now and then called dollar amount plans. Room and board rates change by geographic location, however it is not rare to notice room and board rates ranging from $350  to $750  per day or more.

In general, the maximum number of days is from 3  to 250 . More frequently, room and board expenses are paid on a reimbursement basis. also referred to as an expenses-incurred basis~This is commonly called a expenses incurred basis~This is commonly called a expenses incurred basis}. Under this plan, the insurance will pay in one of two ways.

• The actual charges for a semiprivate room are covered.

• A percentage of the actual expense is paid, with no explicit dollar limit.

Under the first reimbursement option, the health insurance company will pay the full actual semiprivate room rate, regardless of what it is. Under the second reimbursement option, the medical insurance company pays a specific percentage, regardless of what the actual charges are. A universal percentage is 80%.

To sum up, with the actual charges form of reimbursement plan, the policy will pay the actual amount billed for a semiprivate room with no regard to a specific dollar limit. With the percentage type of reimbursement health insurance, the plan will pay a specified percentage of the actual charges.