Netting the right health insurance policy

However, services may be exempted from the deductible. Some managed-care plans, for example, do not apply the deductible to regular checkups and vaccination expenses. The theory is that if you skip those checkups you're more likely to become sick and require costly care. Other plans apply the deductible to everything -- and may have multiple deductibles that you need to add up to figure out your real risk.

Co-payments are the charges you'll pay when getting certain types of care, as designated by the insurer.

Many plans have set co-payments -- anywhere from $20 to $50 -- each time you see a doctor or specialist. Some also have set co-payments for prescriptions.

Co-insurance is a separate issue. Unlike co-payments, which are always a set amount, co-insurance is a percentage of the doctor's or hospital's bill that the patient must shoulder.

In other words, a plan that advertises 30% co-insurance expects you to pay 30% of all your medical costs, up to certain limits. That's often above and beyond the co-payment. Co-insurance could significantly increase your costs if you have a serious health issue. For example, with 30% co-insurance you would have to pay $3,000 of a $10,000 bill, unless your policy has a cap on such expenditures.

Out-of-pocket limits restrict the maximum amount you could pay in co-insurance and deductibles. If you have co-insurance -- and happened to have a major medical issue -- these limits could be pivotal. One Aetna plan, for example, said a family would never have to pay more than $14,000 in covered medical expenses in any given year. Another plan, which had a similar premium, limited annual out-of-pocket expenses to the family deductible amount of $5,250.

Lifetime coverage maximums put a cap on the amount the insurer could be on the hook for if you got cancer or some other chronic and costly ailment that stretched over several years. Most good policies cover at least $1 million and often considerably more. Given that one trip to the hospital could cost $100,000 or more, these limits are too important to dismiss, said Jeff Miles, an employee benefits expert from Marina del Rey.

Limitations and restrictions are the services that your policy doesn't cover.

Rachael Wheat, a 27-year-old Torrance accountant, became an independent contractor last year and bought a policy for herself and her family.