cost sharing

A term used to describe the practice of dividing the cost of healthcare services between the patient and the insurance plan. For example, if a plan pays 80% of the cost of a service, then the patient pays the remaining 20% of the cost. The most common form of cost sharing is for deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments. Cost sharing usually does not include the payment of monthly health insurance premiums or the cost of non-covered healthcare services.