A copayment or copay is a fixed amount for a covered service, paid by a patient to the provider of service before receiving the service. It may be defined in an ...CopaymentFromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopediaJumptonavigationJumptosearchTheexamplesandperspectiveinthisarticledealprimarilywiththeUnitedStatesandGermanyanddonotrepresentaworldwideviewofthesubject.Youmayimprovethisarticle,discusstheissueonthetalkpage,orcreateanewarticle,asappropriate.(February2017)(Learnhowandwhentoremovethistemplatemessage)Acopaymentorcopayisafixedamountforacoveredservice,paidbyapatienttotheproviderofservicebeforereceivingtheservice.Itmaybedefinedinaninsurancepolicyandpaidbyaninsuredpersoneachtimeamedicalserviceisaccessed.Itistechnicallyaformofcoinsurance,butisdefineddifferentlyinhealthinsurancewhereacoinsuranceisapercentagepaymentafterthedeductibleuptoacertainlimit.Itmustbepaidbeforeanypolicybenefitispayablebyaninsurancecompany.Copaymentsdonotusuallycontributetowardsanypolicyout-of-pocketmaximawhereascoinsurancepaymentsdo.[1]Insurancecompaniesusecopaymentstosharehealthcarecoststopreventmoralhazard.Itmaybeasmallportionoftheactualcostofthemedicalservicebutismeanttodeterpeoplefromseekingmedicalcarethatmaynotbenecessary(e.g.,aninfectionbythecommoncold).Inhealthsystemswithpricesbelowthemarketclearinglevelinwhichwaitinglistsactasrationingtools,[2]copaymentcanservetoreducethewelfarecostofwaitinglists.[3]However,acopaymayalsodiscouragepeoplefromseekingnecessarymedicalcareandhighercopaysmayresultinnon-useofessentialmedicalservicesandprescriptions,thusrenderingsomeonewhoisinsuredeffectivelyuninsuredbecausetheyareunabletopayhighercopays.Thus,thereisabalancetobeachieved:ahighenoughcopaytodeterunneededexpensesbutlowenoughtonotrendertheinsuranceuseless.[editorializing]Contents1Germany2Prescriptiondrugs2.1Observedeffects3Seealso4NotesGermany[edit]TheGermanhealthcaresystemhadintroducedcopaymentsinthelate1990sinanattempttopreventoverutilizationandcontrolcosts.Forexample,TechnikerKrankenkasse-insuredmembers