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OTHER HEALTH BENEFIT TERMS"Basic Health Insurance" or "Hospital-Surgical Insurance" generally covers the room charge, basic hospital services, and physician services during a hospital stay. Most basic health insurance policies only pay a fixed amount per day and you pay the rest. "Major Medical" or "Catastrophic" insurance pays expenses above a high deductible. "Comprehensive Health Insurance" can act like basic and major medical insurance combined. "Discharge Planning" determines where a patient goes when they leave the hospital. It is intended to ensure that people do not stay in the hospital for too long or too short a period of time. For example, suppose that a patient no longer needs the full care of a hospital, but needs more care than they can get at home without support. Discharge planning can help them to find a place in skilled nursing facility or to arrange home care to support them at home. Some health insurance policies let you "waive" or "skip" paying premiums if you are hospitalized for a long period of time. "Home Health" services are provided by home health agencies, hospitals, or other organizations to people who need support to be able to stay at home. Home health services can include visiting nurse services and speech, physical, occupational, and rehabilitation therapy. "Physicians' Expense Insurance" or "Regular Medical Expense Insurance" generally pays a fixed amount per physician service and sometimes has limits on how many visits it will cover for one injury or illness. "Prescription Drug Plans" often have copays and deductibles similar to those of regular medical insurance plans. Fee-for-Service Medicare does not pay for prescription drugs, so many seniors get prescription drug coverage from a Medigap policy or by joining a Medicare HMO that offers prescription drug coverage. "Preventative Services" are health care services to prevent serious illness and maintain health. They include routine visits, physicals, well-baby care, immunizations, mammograms, and other screening tests. Prevention defined more generally can include activities to improve health and prevent illness other than health care, such as wellness programs, exercise and fitness, healthy foot and dietary counseling, smoking cessation programs, stress reduction, and safety programs. "Substance Abuse Treatment" is treatment for excessive use of alcohol, drug, or other substances and is often part of an "Employee Assistance Program" (EAP). "Hospice Care" is care for the terminally ill in a non-hospital setting that seeks to reduce pain and suffering instead of seeking a medical restoration. "Dread Disease" or "Single Disease" insurance only pays for treatment for one type of disease. It does not reduce your overall risk for health care expenses like general health insurance. Some dread disease policies pay cash benefits that can be used for purposes other than direct health care. "Accident Insurance" pays for medical expenses caused by an accident. It may pay a fixed amount per incident or provide open-ended reimbursement for all accident-related expenses. "Rehabilitation Care" help restore disabled people to full physical and mental functioning after an illness or injury. "Dental Care" insurance generally covers dental services and supplies, including preventive care, but may not cover reconstructive dental work due to injury. Dental coverage may be part of general health insurance or a separate plan. FFS dental plans allow you to select any dentist. A "Dental Maintenance Organization (DMO)" or "Dental Preferred Provider Organization (DPPO)" pays little or nothing for services by dentists outside the network. "Vision Care" insurance is available, but few general health insurance plans cover corrective eye care or hearing aids because of moral hazard.
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