copayment

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copayment

(kō′pā′mənt)

A specified sum of money that patients covered by a health insurance plan pay for a given type of service, usually at the time the service is rendered.

co·pay·ment

, copay (kōpā-mĕnt, kōpā)

A fixed or set amount paid for each health care or medical service; the remainder is paid by the health insurance plan. In common parlance, copay is the term used.
See also: coinsurance, cost sharing
Synonym(s): out-of-pocket costs, out-of-pocket expenses.

Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing © Farlex 2012

co·pay·ment

, copay (kōpā-mĕnt, kōpā)

That portion of a dental care charge for which the patient herself, rather than a third party payor (i.e., insurer), is responsible.

Medical Dictionary for the Dental Professions © Farlex 2012

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References in periodicals archive ?

In December 2001, the Veterans Health Administration (VA) increased specialty visit copayments from $15 to $50, creating a natural experiment to examine changes in expenditures.

Modeling Semicontinuous Longitudinal Expenditures: A Practical Guide

In the standard model, the more responsive health care use is to price, the greater the efficiency cost of low copayments, as people overuse care to a greater extent.

Behavioral hazard in health insurance

The advent of health maintenance organizations (HMOs), preferred provider organizations (PPOs), and copayments made it relatively inexpensive to come in for visits and purchase medications.

Health insurance exchanges

The downside is that these drugs will have no generic (cheaper) form for many years and will come onto the market with Tier 4 copayments.

How will we manage?

The researchers said that managed-care plans would be wise to exempt older women from mammogram copayments because breast cancer is less expensive to treat when caught early.

Copay may be a deterrent to getting mammograms

Research finds that even modest health insurance copayments discourage older women from getting mammograms.

Copayments discourage mammography screenings

The Home and Community Services Copayment Equity Act of 2007 would ensure that qualified assisted living residents and dual-eligible recipients who live in other home-and community-based settings receive the same relief from Medicare Part D co-payments that nursing home residents receive.

A parity plan for dual eligibles: the Home and Community Services Copayment Equity Act of 2007

Designed for patients on nonformulary medications, the program waives the copayment if the member moves to a generic alternative.

Express scripts pushes generics

One study showed that an increased copayment was related to less use of eight classes of prescription medications, little impact on the use of medications for chronic conditions, and an increase in emergency room visits (Goldman et al., 2004).

How co-payments affect access to prison health care services: the experiences of women in two Ohio prisons

The National Coalition for Assisted Living (NCAL) asked Congress in late January to waive the Medicare Part D copayment for dually eligible seniors, in a statement submitted during a Senate Special Aging Committee hearing.

Congress urged to waive Part D copayment

The purpose of Gruber, Chandra, and McKnight's paper is to remedy this deficiency by studying a major set of copayment changes in a modern, managed care environment.