An accident is an injury that occurs accidentally. A sickness is an illness or disease that is not the result of an accident. Knowing the difference is important because policies may have different provisions that apply to accidents or sickness. Also, there are some companies that sell a separate accident policy that does not include sickness.

The terms accident and sickness are widely used and often interchangeable in any discussion of health family insurance. They are often abbreviated as A&H and A&S. Health insurance is also referred to as medical insurance.

As we discussed above, health insurance is designed to protect again two types of economic loss. Loss of income and expenses for medical care which places them in either of two broad policy categories:

- Disability income policies

- Medical expense policies

Disability income policies can also be referred to as loss of income, loss of time or replacement income. This type of policy will pay benefits to an insured who is disabled and can no longer work to earn a regular income. Payments can be weekly or monthly depending on the policy.

Medical expense policies are represented by a wide range of coverage from very minimal to comprehensive packages with multiple coverage. Some include both accidents and illnesses, various hospital expenses and other costs pertaining to medical care such as:

- Accident and sickness policies

- Hospital policies

- Basic medical expense policies

- Major medical expense policies

- Comprehensive medical expense policies

Any of these policies might cover various combinations of the above and may be paid in a lump sum.