When you are considering health insurance it is essential that you ask a number of specific questions about a health insurance plan quote to ensure that you get the right cover at the right price. Here we look at 10 questions that you need to ask:

Question 1. What out of pocket expenses and deductible will you need to pay? No medical insurance plan is going to meet one hundred percent of your medical expenses and you will usually have to meet a deductible before your insurance company will pay out at all and will also ask you to pay certain other expenses.

Question 2. What examinations and health screenings are included? Plans vary considerably in terms of preventative care and you will have to check to see what screening tests are covered. For example, does the plan cover all family members including babies, kids and adults and allow for things like as breast exams, mammograms and pap smears?

Question 3. Is specialist care and referrals covered? If you need a referral to a specialist this might or might not be covered and, if covered, may have restrictions placed upon that cover.

Question 4. How does the plan treat emergency care and hospitalization? In some cases you will find that both emergency care and hospitalization will only be covered when they are pre-approved and you must fully understand the conditions under which this form of treatment is covered.

Question 5. What prescriptions costs are covered by the plan? You will have to check out any accompanying prescription plan carefully to determine which drugs are covered and the extent to which you might be required to meet part of the cost of any prescription drugs.

Question 6. Are dental and vision care covered? In a lot of cases health insurance plans will not provide cover for dental and vision care and these then have to be covered under a separate plan.

Question 7. Does the plan cover psychotherapy, psychiatric services or mental health services? Although many health plans will cover mental illness in various different forms such cover is frequently limited and you will normally find that there is a cap on the amount of cover provided.

Question 8. Is hospital, home health and nursing home care covered? While the majority of plans will offer reasonably good hospital cover you will have to look at exactly what cover is provided for nursing homes and home health care.

Question 9. Is physiotherapy and rehabilitative care covered? Plans will frequently separate out initial treatment and follow-up rehabilitative care and physiotherapy and so it is vital to discover exactly what is and what is not covered.

Question 10. Does the plan cover alternative care? As an increasing number of people are turning to alternative treatments like acupuncture or holistic treatments health insurance companies are increasingly including cover for such treatments. It is however still early days for alternative treatment and, if this is something that you want to take advantage of, you will need to look to see to what extent it is covered.

The ten questions here are important when you are considering any health insurance quote but you might wish to include other items to your own list like how much paperwork is involved when making a claim under the plan and how much choice you will have in terms of hospitals, doctors and other care facilities. The most important thing however is to ensure that you fully understand just what cover you are getting and how much it will cost before signing an application for cover.