What is the primary purpose of medical insurance?

The primary purpose of medical insurance is to provide financial protection against high healthcare costs. This means that when individuals have medical insurance, they can access necessary healthcare services without facing overwhelming financial burdens. Medical expenses can be significant, and insurance helps to mitigate these costs by covering a portion of the expenses incurred for medical treatments, hospital stays, medications, and routine care. Consequently, this financial safety net enables people to seek medical attention when needed without the fear of incurring insurmountable debt.

In contrast, while promoting healthy lifestyles may be an ancillary benefit or goal of some insurance programs, it is not the main objective of medical insurance as a whole. Additionally, offering free healthcare services is more characteristic of specific healthcare systems or government-funded programs rather than the core purpose of medical insurance policies which are designed to share costs. Lastly, ensuring that every patient receives surgery is not a fundamental aim of medical insurance; rather, insurance typically provides coverage for necessary surgeries that are deemed clinically appropriate by healthcare professionals. Hence, the essence of medical insurance lies in its role as a financial protective measure against healthcare costs.