Health care insurance is what will help pay for your medical bills if you ever get sick or injured. Costs which include doctor visits, hospital confinement, surgery, laboratory tests, and other forms of services, which tend to be very expensive. Many people cannot afford to pay for them by themselves.

There are four types of health insurance available. They are group health plans, individual plans, workers' compensation, and government health plans such as Medicare and Medicaid.

There are two different types of group and individual health plans. They are fee-for-service and managed care. Of the two types, fee-for-service is the most flexible because it allows you to choose which health care professional you want to see. Managed care will usually limit the doctors you are allowed to see to the companys list of health care professionals that are managed by the insurance company.

Health insurance can be a very expensive. However, it is not as expensive as having to pay for medical bills on your own. Group health plans today charge employers as high as $830 a month to cover a family of four while the workers pay, on the average, $230 a month for that coverage. The premiums have increased by over 11 percent since 2004, and the yearly increase is projected to reach 18 percent within the next 10 years. From 2004 to 2005 workers have spent over $13 billion on health care.

Today the most affordable type of health care insurance available is subsidized by the government. Medicare and Medicaid are two examples of health care plans that are offered by the government. To qualify for these two plans, you must be over the age of 65, or below this age but have disabilities. The cost of these medical plans is far less expensive than those from private insurance companies.