HEALTH CARE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does health care mean? 

• HEALTH CARE (noun)
  The noun HEALTH CARE has 2 senses:

1. social insurance for the ill and injured

2. the preservation of mental and physical health by preventing or treating illness through services offered by the health profession

  Familiarity information: HEALTH CARE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HEALTH CARE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Social insurance for the ill and injured

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("health care" is a kind of...):

social insurance (government provision for unemployed, injured, or aged people; financed by contributions from employers and employees as well as by government revenue)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "health care"):

Medicare (health care for the aged; a federally administered system of health insurance available to persons aged 65 and over)

Medicaid (health care for the needy; a federally and state-funded program)

primary health care (health care that is provided by a health care professional in the first contact of a patient with the health care system)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The preservation of mental and physical health by preventing or treating illness through services offered by the health profession

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

health care; healthcare

Hypernyms ("health care" is a kind of...):

aid; attention; care; tending (the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something)

 Context examples 

Later, if you do decide to try again, work closely with your health care provider to lower the risks.

(Miscarriage, NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)

Health care providers are obligated to provide patients with the standard of care.

(Best practice, NCI Dictionary)

If you think you may have it, tell your health care provider.

(Bipolar Disorder, NIH: National Institute of Mental Health)

Your health care provider can help you select the best form of birth control for you.

(Birth Control, NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)

If your back pain is severe or doesn't improve after three days, you should call your health care provider.

(Back Pain, NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)

This is also a good chance to ask your health care provider any questions about how to care for your baby.

(Baby Health Checkup, NIH)

You should have a health care professional check your moles if they look unusual, grow larger, change in color or outline, or in any other way.

(Moles, NIH: National Cancer Institute)

Because people with autism can have very different features or symptoms, health care providers think of autism as a "spectrum" disorder.

(Autism, NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)

This makes it hard for your health care provider to know if you really have one of these diseases, and if so, which one.

(Autoimmune Diseases, NIH)

Minimal interventions directed at individuals that do not involve a health care provider, such as self-help and telephone counseling.

(Minimal Contact Treatment, NCI Thesaurus)