Which health insurance policy feature reduces the amount the insured pays for services?

The feature of a health insurance policy that reduces the amount the insured pays for services is copayments. A copayment, or copay, is a fixed amount that an insured individual pays for specific healthcare services at the time of receiving care. For instance, a health insurance plan might require a $20 copay for a doctor's visit. This means that when the insured goes to the doctor, they only have to pay $20, regardless of the total cost of the visit.

This feature is beneficial because it helps to manage out-of-pocket expenses, ensuring that individuals do not have to pay the full cost of healthcare services upfront. Instead, they share the cost with their insurer through smaller, manageable payments. Other choices like premiums, deductibles, and exclusions do not directly reduce the amount paid for services in a similar manner. Premiums are monthly payments made to maintain insurance coverage, deductibles are the amounts that must be paid out-of-pocket before the insurance starts to pay, and exclusions refer to specific conditions not covered by the policy, which do not influence the cost sharing at the point of service.