Health Insurance 1 All insurance is a form of risk management. To deal with the unexpected risks to health through accident or illness, various types of health insurance programs have been devised. Health insurance is offered to individuals in two forms: individual plans and group plans. The insurers (供保者) may be private companies or governments. Since the early 1970s another type of health - care coverage(承保险种)has become prominent: the health maintenance organization. 2 In some countries no insurance companies offer health care because governments have taken over the entire responsibility. The United States has a combination of private and government - spon- sored insurance. Some government programs are limited to specific groups within the population. 3 The purpose of health insurance is to provide protection against loss of income and to cover the expenses of hospitalization (住院) and some of its associated costs. Some policies also help the people of disability, and this will pay insured individuals should they be unable to work because of extended illnesses or permanent physical disability. Accident insurance covers sudden and unexpected injuries, while sickness insurance applies to illness or disease. There are policies that cover accidents only, while normal health insurance covers accidents as well as illness. Some policies are designed only to provide extra income during hospitalization. Many of these are known as mail—order policies, because they are sold to individuals who answer mailed requirement or reply to ads in newspapers and magazines or on television. 4 Health insurance covers a lot of costs. Some policies cover a stay in the hospital and services offered by the hospital. Surgical expense coverage provides benefits for surgery resulting from illness or accident. Beyond this, a policy may cover what are called regular medical expenses, including doctor’s fees, home nursing, diagnostic tests, and ambulance service.