insurance sucks
gail,
insurance in this country is all over the place. i dare you to wrap your head around what i am about to tell you.
the vast majority of americans get their insurance through their employer. depending on your employer you may pay 0% of your premium or up to 60-75% of it. i am not sure what percentage an employer is required to pay as per the new healthcare law, the ACA, more affectionately known as obamacare. employer insurance is not through the ACA program but there are certain coverage mandates per the law. employers who value their employees tend to pay more of the premium than what the law requires.
companies with less than 50 employees are not required to offer them insurance. the obamacare program is for those people as well as the self employed. it is still private insurance, you just sign up for it through a government internet portal and then your income is registered and if you make below a certain amount the feds will pay part of your premium. the plans suck and aren't nearly as affordable as before obamacare started. one reason is that insurance companies can no longer refuse to insure people with "preexisting" conditions. that has always been a very controversial topic in the US. now that all plans have to cover preexisting conditions, somebody has to pay, and it is through higher premiums, of which the government picks up a lot of the tab. employer health plans have always covered preexisting conditions - just not plans sold to individuals.
when you ask about co-pays and such, that differs based on the policy you have and how much you pay a month for it (the premium cost). we also have deductibles - a certain $$ amount you have to pay before most of the major medical coverage kicks in. and then insurance companies only pay a certain amount - again that percentage, usually 50%-80% is determined by your policy and the monthly premium. deductibles can be high ($6000-$9000 per person per year. those are more like a catastrophic policy - you pay a lower monthly premium and are protected from serious hospitalization costs. if you are healthy, that's the route you go. if you need to see a doctor all the time, get lots of tests, procedures, etc. then you may want a plan with a higher premium but have a lower deductible. there are also co-pays, out of pocket maximums and in network and out of network expenses. all of that is also determined by the "style" of insurance program you have: there are HMO's, PPO's, EPO's, HSA's and for those under 30, catastrophic.
its nuts. however, we have a better choice of doctors than most countries with private healthcare. we are never assigned a specific doctor - we can pick from a list - most doctors participate with most plans. if we don't like a doctor, we can pick another. the exception is with the state medicaid programs. those who qualify pay nothing but have little if any choice of the doctor they see or what hospital they use. for me, i would make sure i pick a hospital that only has single private rooms. if you are on medicaid, you don't get that choice.
there are programs for families and individuals who live below the official "poverty level". each state has their own name for the program but it falls under the broader title of medicaid. those who have medicaid do not have to pay one thin dime. no premium, no co pay no nothing. not to be confused with medicare which is a federal government healthcare program for individuals 65 and older. all working US residents pay into the medicare system through taxes and therefore have a right to use it. it is part of our federal social security program. it is not total free healthcare, there are copays and deductibles but you don't pay a monthly premium (TFL tell me if i am wrong about that) . you do not need to be a citizen of the US - medicare is earned. you just have to have paid into the system as a legal documented worker for a certain period of time. well, supposedly, but we're learning its not hard to beat the system.
I will have to stay here which I figured I would until the day I die... 
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