# insurance copay vs. deductible **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 24, 2015, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insurance-copay-vs-deductible/741269 "2015-12-24T15:56:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insurance-copay-vs-deductible/741269/21 "2015-12-25T18:30:57Z")
> [@GreenElf](#): > > Riemann, that makes sense, but the idea behind my thread was to ask if a copay is some form of benefit insofar as it provides immediate cash savings. I think you’re the only one that has indicated that it is. Everyone else implies it’s a penalty. When you say “benefit”, relative to what? If you compare it to a hypothetical scheme with no co-pay services, where everything falls under the a deductible reckoning, then it will be a substantial benefit for most healthy people. Suppose you’re a healthy person. The only health service you turn out to need is 3 visits to your primary care physician, each for minor treatment. Co-pay is $25, but the total bill is $250 each time. You co-pay only $75 that year. Under a scheme where this service does not fall under a co-pay scheme, where the visits are treated as falling under the deductible reckoning, you would pay the full $750. Sometimes co-pay is zero for certain treatments - often preventative treatments or routine health checks, even sometimes your first few regular doctor visits. It’s important to distinguish “co-pay = $0” from the absence of any co-pay scheme for a service. In the former case, you just pay nothing, in the latter case the service falls under the deductible reckoning. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insurance-copay-vs-deductible/741269.md?page=1)