Your premium is the amount you pay for your health insurance every month. You might make payments on your own, or it might be deducted from your payroll if you get health insurance coverage through work. The premium just gives you access to the plan; you may still have to pay deductibles, copays, and coinsurance. Choosing the plan with the lowest premium does not necessarily mean choosing the plan with the lowest overall costs.

When filing your Form 1040, there is a spot on the first page, Line 29, that allows you to claim your self-employed health insurance costs for the year. The benefit of claiming your health insurance costs is that it lowers your gross adjusted income, which will in turn lower your total taxable income. Software like QuickBooks Self-Employed can help you easily track these deductions. There are two key factors to remember when determining your eligibility for deducting your health insurance costs as a self-employed person:

You can only write-off your health insurance premiums for the months you and/or your spouse where ineligible for an employer-sponsored health insurance plan. For example, if you were employed for five months of the year and then left your job to start your own company, you would be able to claim your premiums for the remaining seven months. If your business does not earn any income, you cannot claim the health insurance deduction. You are not eligible to claim more deductions than your business earned in the same year.

A preferred provider organizations (PPO) is a type of health insurance plan that features a network of doctors and hospitals that provide a lower rate. PPOs may also cover the costs of some medical expenses outside of their network. Unlike with a health maintenance organization (HMO), another popular type of health insurance plan, PPO plans do not require that you get a referral from your primary care physician to see a specialist.

Your deductible is the amount you pay for health care out of pocket before your health insurance kicks in and starts covering the costs. Some expenses, like an annual check-up or doctor’s visit, might not be subject to the deductible, depending on your plan. The deductibles might be anywhere from $500 to $1,500 if you’re an individual, or $1,000 to $3,000 if you’re a family. In general, plans with higher deductibles have lower premiums and vice versa.

As an example, if you have a $1,000 deductible and have a $5,000 surgery, you’ll have to pay $1,000 out of pocket, and the remaining $4,000 will be covered all or in part by your insurance company.

However, even after you've paid your deductible, covered services may still have a copay or coinsurance, depending on the details of your plan.

A copay is a flat fee that you pay when you receive specific health care services, such as a doctor visit or getting prescription drugs. Your copay (also called a copayment) will vary depending on the service you receive and your health insurance plan, but copays are typically $30 or less.

Copays are a form of cost sharing. Insurance companies use them as a way for customers to split the cost of paying for health care. Copays for a particular insurance plan are set by the insurer. Regardless of what your doctor charges for a visit, your copay won't change.

Not all services require a copay — preventive care usually doesn’t — while the copay for other medical services may depend on which doctor you see or which medicine you use. In particular, certain insurance plans charge more to visit a specialist physician instead of your primary care physician. Name brand prescription medicine usually has a higher copay than generic versions.

As a general rule, health insurance plans with lower monthly premiums (the amount you pay each month in order to have health insurance) will have higher copays. Plans with higher premiums usually have lower copays.