Final answer:
Private health insurance includes both employment-based and direct-purchase insurance, while group health insurance is typically employer-provided, balancing risk among various individuals. Both types may include deductibles, co-insurance, and co-payments, but government programs may operate differently.
Step-by-step explanation:
The primary differences between private and group health insurance plans revolve around who is providing the coverage and how risk is pooled among insured individuals.
Private health insurance can be categorized into employment-based insurance, which is provided by an employer or union, and may cover just the employee or their family, and direct-purchase insurance, which individuals buy directly from a private company.
Group health insurance, on the other hand, is often offered through an employer, which allows for a mix of high-risk and low-risk individuals, balancing out the risk for the insurance provider. Such plans can also be accessed through government-sponsored health exchanges under laws like The Affordable Care Act. This setup helps solve the problem of adverse selection in the insurance market.
Both private and group insurance plans typically include deductibles, co-insurance, and co-payments as part of their cost structure, which are the potential costs for the insured.
Government and social insurance programs, while still functioning to protect against risk, may operate differently, such as not having an explicit fund set up for steady payments and disbursements.