Catastrophic health insurance policies generally have much higher deductibles in exchange for much lower premiums.  However, the catastrophic health insurance policies are intended to pay only for major hospital and medical expenses.  These Catastrophic health insurance policies usually do not cover routine doctor visits or emergency room visits for simple injuries.  The Catastrophic health insurance policies are intended for intensive care type of injuries where you will stay at the hospital for ten days or longer.

Catastrophic health insurance policies deductibles are generally $500 or more. However they generally have high maximum benefit payments of greater than 1 million. 

Catastrophic health insurance plans are usually purchased by young adults who are not covered by their employers.  This could be due to a number of reasons including part time employment, self employment or just out of college and still job searching.