Glossary → Medical & Insurance
Medical & Insurance

Deductible

What you pay yourself before insurance starts covering costs.

A deductible is the amount you pay out of pocket each plan year before your insurer begins paying its share. A $2,000 deductible means you cover the first $2,000 of covered care before coinsurance kicks in.

In practice

“In-network deductible: $2,000 individual / $4,000 family.”

Don’t just look it up — see it in your document.

Upload your bill or EOB and Main AI checks it line by line, flagging where a charge or term like this may not be right.

Analyze my document free →

Deductible, coinsurance, and out-of-pocket max

These three work together. After the deductible, you usually pay coinsurance (a percentage) until you hit the out-of-pocket maximum, after which the plan pays 100%. Some services (like preventive care) are covered before the deductible. Check whether in- and out-of-network deductibles are separate — they usually are.

See this in your own document: run a free analysis — findings quote the exact language.

What it looks like in a real document

“This service applied to your deductible. You owe $180.”

Seeing a charge “applied to deductible” on your EOB means insurance did not pay because you have not met it yet — not that the bill is wrong.