Medical expense insurance is designed to reimburse or pay covered health-care expenses arising from illness or injury. These expenses may include hospital room and board, surgical services, physician services, diagnostic testing, outpatient treatment, prescription drugs, and other covered medical care. Benefits are subject to the policy’s deductible, copayment, coinsurance, network rules, exclusions, benefit limits, and medical-necessity standards.
Disability income insurance serves a different purpose. It replaces a portion of the insured’s earned income when the insured becomes disabled under the policy definition. It does not ordinarily reimburse hospital or physician bills. Accidental death insurance pays a benefit upon qualifying accidental death and does not serve as general medical coverage. Credit life insurance is designed to help satisfy a debt when the debtor dies.
An examination question may describe a policy as basic hospital, surgical, physician expense, major medical, comprehensive major medical, or managed care. Each is within the broader medical-expense category, although benefits and delivery systems differ. The producer should help clients understand the distinction between coverage for medical bills and coverage for lost income. A client can need both forms of protection because medical expenses and inability to earn income are separate financial risks.
References/topics from the Study Guide: Medical Expense Insurance; Hospital Expense; Surgical Expense; Major Medical; Disability Income Insurance.
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