A supplemental health insurance policy sold by private insurance companies and designed to pay for health care costs and services that are not paid for either by Medicare alone or by a combination of Medicare and existing private health insurance benefits. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988)

Insurance providing coverage of medical, surgical, or hospital care in general or for which there is no specific heading.

Generally refers to the amount of protection available and the kind of loss which would be paid for under an insurance contract with an insurer. (Slee & Slee, Health Care Terms, 2d ed)

Amounts charged to the patient as payer for health care services.

Adverse or favorable selection bias exhibited by insurers or enrollees resulting in disproportionate enrollment of certain groups of people.

The Balanced Budget Act (BBA) of 1997 establishes a Medicare+Choice program under part C of Title XVIII, Section 4001, of the Social Security Act. Under this program, an eligible individual may elect to receive Medicare benefits through enrollment in a Medicare+Choice plan. Beneficiaries may choose to use private pay options, establish medical savings accounts, use managed care plans, or join provider-sponsored plans.

Coverage by contract whereby one part indemnifies or guarantees another against loss by a specified contingency.

The compulsory portion of Medicare that is known as the Hospital Insurance Program. All persons 65 years and older who are entitled to benefits under the Old Age, Survivors, Disability and Health Insurance Program or railroad retirement, persons under the age of 65 who have been eligible for disability for more than two years, and insured workers (and their dependents) requiring renal dialysis or kidney transplantation are automatically enrolled in Medicare Part A.

Health insurance to provide full or partial coverage for long-term home care services or for long-term nursing care provided in a residential facility such as a nursing home.

Insurance providing for payment of a stipulated sum to a designated beneficiary upon death of the insured.

Organizations which assume the financial responsibility for the risks of policyholders.

The application of mathematical formulas and statistical techniques to the testing and quantifying of economic theories and the solution of economic problems.

An organization of insurers or reinsurers through which particular types of risk are shared or pooled. The risk of high loss by a particular insurance company is transferred to the group as a whole (the insurance pool) with premiums, losses, and expenses shared in agreed amounts.

Individuals or groups with no or inadequate health insurance coverage. Those falling into this category usually comprise three primary groups: the medically indigent (MEDICAL INDIGENCY); those whose clinical condition makes them medically uninsurable; and the working uninsured.

Organized systems for providing comprehensive prepaid health care that have five basic attributes: (1) provide care in a defined geographic area; (2) provide or ensure delivery of an agreed-upon set of basic and supplemental health maintenance and treatment services; (3) provide care to a voluntarily enrolled group of persons; (4) require their enrollees to use the services of designated providers; and (5) receive reimbursement through a predetermined, fixed, periodic prepayment made by the enrollee without regard to the degree of services provided. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988)

The voluntary portion of Medicare, known as the Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) Program, that includes physician's services, home health care, medical services, outpatient hospital services, and laboratory, pathology, and radiology services. All persons entitled to Medicare Part A may enroll in Medicare Part B on a monthly premium basis.

The term "United States" in a medical context often refers to the country where a patient or study participant resides, and is not a medical term per se, but relevant for epidemiological studies, healthcare policies, and understanding differences in disease prevalence, treatment patterns, and health outcomes across various geographic locations.

Insurance providing coverage for dental care.

Payments or services provided under stated circumstances under the terms of an insurance policy. In prepayment programs, benefits are the services the programs will provide at defined locations and to the extent needed.

Payment by a third-party payer in a sum equal to the amount expended by a health care provider or facility for health services rendered to an insured or program beneficiary. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988)

The integration of epidemiologic, sociological, economic, and other analytic sciences in the study of health services. Health services research is usually concerned with relationships between need, demand, supply, use, and outcome of health services. The aim of the research is evaluation, particularly in terms of structure, process, output, and outcome. (From Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)

Health insurance plans for employees, and generally including their dependents, usually on a cost-sharing basis with the employer paying a percentage of the premium.

Insurance against loss resulting from liability for injury or damage to the persons or property of others.

The design, completion, and filing of forms with the insurer.

Insurance providing a broad range of medical services and supplies, when prescribed by a physician, whether or not the patient is hospitalized. It frequently is an extension of a basic policy and benefits will not begin until the basic policy is exhausted.

Insurance providing coverage for physical injury suffered as a result of unavoidable circumstances.

Statistical models of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, as well as of financial considerations. For the application of statistics to the testing and quantifying of economic theories MODELS, ECONOMETRIC is available.

National Health Insurance in the United States refers to a proposed system of healthcare financing that would provide comprehensive coverage for all residents, funded through a combination of government funding and mandatory contributions, and administered by a public agency.

Health insurance coverage for all persons in a state or country, rather than for some subset of the population. It may extend to the unemployed as well as to the employed; to aliens as well as to citizens; for pre-existing conditions as well as for current illnesses; for mental as well as for physical conditions.

Health insurance providing benefits to cover or partly cover hospital expenses.

Innovation and improvement of the health care system by reappraisal, amendment of services, and removal of faults and abuses in providing and distributing health services to patients. It includes a re-alignment of health services and health insurance to maximum demographic elements (the unemployed, indigent, uninsured, elderly, inner cities, rural areas) with reference to coverage, hospitalization, pricing and cost containment, insurers' and employers' costs, pre-existing medical conditions, prescribed drugs, equipment, and services.

Public Law 104-91 enacted in 1996, was designed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the healthcare system, protect health insurance coverage for workers and their families, and to protect individual personal health information.

Federal program, created by Public Law 89-97, Title XIX, a 1965 amendment to the Social Security Act, administered by the states, that provides health care benefits to indigent and medically indigent persons.

Components of a national health care system which administer specific services, e.g., national health insurance.

A principle of estimation in which the estimates of a set of parameters in a statistical model are those quantities minimizing the sum of squared differences between the observed values of a dependent variable and the values predicted by the model.

The degree to which individuals are inhibited or facilitated in their ability to gain entry to and to receive care and services from the health care system. Factors influencing this ability include geographic, architectural, transportational, and financial considerations, among others.

Review of claims by insurance companies to determine liability and amount of payment for various services. The review may also include determination of eligibility of the claimant or beneficiary or of the provider of the benefit; determination that the benefit is covered or not payable under another policy; or determination that the service was necessary and of reasonable cost and quality.

State plans prepared by the State Health Planning and Development Agencies which are made up from plans submitted by the Health Systems Agencies and subject to review and revision by the Statewide Health Coordinating Council.

Criteria to determine eligibility of patients for medical care programs and services.

That distinct portion of the institutional, industrial, or economic structure of a country that is controlled or owned by non-governmental, private interests.

The amounts spent by individuals, groups, nations, or private or public organizations for total health care and/or its various components. These amounts may or may not be equivalent to the actual costs (HEALTH CARE COSTS) and may or may not be shared among the patient, insurers, and/or employers.

Insurance providing benefits to cover part or all of the psychiatric care.

Financing of medical care provided to public assistance recipients.

The process of making a selective intellectual judgment when presented with several complex alternatives consisting of several variables, and usually defining a course of action or an idea.

Payment by individuals or their family for health care services which are not covered by a third-party payer, either insurance or medical assistance.

Insurance providing benefits for the costs of care by a physician which can be comprehensive or limited to surgical expenses or for care provided only in the hospital. It is frequently called "regular medical expense" or "surgical expense".

An Act prohibiting a health plan from establishing lifetime limits or annual limits on the dollar value of benefits for any participant or beneficiary after January 1, 2014. It permits a restricted annual limit for plan years beginning prior to January 1, 2014. It provides that a health plan shall not be prevented from placing annual or lifetime per-beneficiary limits on covered benefits. The Act sets up a competitive health insurance market.

Provisions of an insurance policy that require the insured to pay some portion of covered expenses. Several forms of sharing are in use, e.g., deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments. Cost sharing does not refer to or include amounts paid in premiums for the coverage. (From Dictionary of Health Services Management, 2d ed)

Insurance designed to compensate persons who lose wages because of illness or injury; insurance providing periodic payments that partially replace lost wages, salary, or other income when the insured is unable to work because of illness, injury, or disease. Individual and group disability insurance are two types of such coverage. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988, p207)

State-provided health insurance marketplaces established under the PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT.

Government sponsored social insurance programs.

Organized services to provide health care for children.

Revenues or receipts accruing from business enterprise, labor, or invested capital.

Insurance providing for payment of services rendered by the pharmacist. Services include the preparation and distribution of medical products.

Statistical measures of utilization and other aspects of the provision of health care services including hospitalization and ambulatory care.

Social and economic factors that characterize the individual or group within the social structure.

Differences in access to or availability of medical facilities and services.

A situation in which the level of living of an individual, family, or group is below the standard of the community. It is often related to a specific income level.

The level of governmental organization and function below that of the national or country-wide government.

Status not subject to taxation; as the income of a philanthropic organization. Tax-exempt organizations may also qualify to receive tax-deductible donations if they are considered to be nonprofit corporations under Section 501(c)3 of the United States Internal Revenue Code.