Comprehensive major medical coverage is the most common type of health insurance Americans carry. If you are shopping around for new health insurance and health insurance quotes, it is important to know what your options are. It is useful to have an understanding about what comprehensive coverage is, what type of services it covers, and what the alternatives are.

In our current health care system, the responsibility is put on the insurance purchaser; we choose our health coverage and pay for it privately, most commonly through employers. The most common type purchased is comprehensive major medical coverage. Comprehensive coverage pays either a percentage of the medical service or a flat rate of a medical service. The insured pays a deductible or a co-pay, depending on how the plan is structured.

True to its name, comprehensive coverage covers most medical needs of the insured; usually this is more than the standard alternative health insurance coverage. Comprehensive insurance covers routine medical care and catastrophic coverage, as well.

Generally speaking, routine medical care includes most preventative types of health care. They cover such things as regular doctor visits, prescription drugs, annual testing for preventative care, as well as all types of basic medical needs. Catastrophic coverage is for unexpected and unplanned medical health services, such as trips to the emergency room, and surgeries. These are the biggest expenses under comprehensive medical coverage, but all of these items would be covered under a comprehensive plan.

The alternatives to comprehensive medical coverage are scheduled health insurance plans. These are sometimes also referred to as mini-med plans, because they are a stripped down version of the comprehensive plans. Scheduled plans cover all the same basic and routine medical care that the comprehensive plans do, but do not cover for catastrophic or emergency medical needs.

Scheduled insurance plans are just that; scheduled. Routine visits to the doctor are allowed and anything covered will be clearly predetermined and laid out in the plan schedule. These aren't true alternatives to comprehensive coverage, in that they do not replace the same care. It is simply meant as a lower cost option for healthy people who want to maintain regular doctor care.

If you are looking for health insurance, you must first determine if you need all of the services covered in comprehensive insurance. The specific insurance plan dictates the exact percentages covered by each plan, which is clear in the vast difference between health insurance quotes. There is a huge difference in monthly premiums, even between comprehensive plans. You can tailor your co-pays or percentages to find a plan that suits your needs.