A deductible is the amount of money you have to pay for covered health care services yourself before your insurance plan starts paying its share. If your plan has a $1,500 deductible, you're responsible for the first $1,500 of eligible medical costs in a plan year — after that, your insurance starts contributing. * Unlike car or home insurance, where you generally pay nothing until you hit your deductible, most health plans work differently for preventive care specifically. Annual physicals, many recommended screenings, and certain vaccines are typically covered in full even before you've met your deductible at all — a protection built into most modern health plans. * Deductibles and monthly premiums usually move in opposite directions. A plan with a high deductible tends to have a lower monthly premium, since you're taking on more of the immediate cost yourself. A plan with a low deductible tends to charge a higher premium, because the insurer starts sharing costs sooner. * Deductibles reset, typically once a year at the start of your plan's coverage period — meaning the dollar amount you've already paid toward it doesn't carry over into the next year. Family plans often have both an individual deductible and a separate, higher family deductible that the whole household works toward together. * Meeting your deductible doesn't mean your costs disappear entirely — after that point, you typically move into paying coinsurance, a percentage of remaining costs, rather than covering the full bill yourself.