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Health Insurance for Dummies

Demystifying health coverage

As you go through life, there’s always a chance that you’ll have some kind of an accident or maybe a serious illness or injury…maybe your home will burn down.

The risk of any of these happening is small, but if it did, the financial impact could be catastrophic. Without insurance, you’d have to come up with the money on your own to repair your car, have surgery, or rebuild your home.

Insurance is a way to manage financial risk. The idea is simple; a large number of people pay into a fund and when one of them has expenses, he or she is reimbursed for some or all of the expenses by the fund. The payout is called a benefit.

Health insurance can help you pay part or all of your expenses related to illness or injuries, when you see a health care professional, spend time in a hospital or purchase health care products and services.

In Canada, health care is covered by government “public” plans AND by “private” plans, such as the benefits provided through your workplace or personal coverage that you might buy on your own through a company like Blue Cross.

Government plans provide coverage for core health services like doctor visits and hospital acute care. Companies like Blue Cross provide private coverage for services that are either not covered or only partially covered by the government health plan.

It’s important to protect yourself, but understanding how health insurance works can be challenging.