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

Question 2. What examinations and health screenings are you covered for? Health plans vary widely when it comes to preventative care and you will have to look 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 examinations, mammograms and pap smears?

Question 3. Is specialist care and referrals covered? Should you require a referral to a specialist this may or may not be covered and, if covered, could have limits placed upon that cover.

Question 4. How is emergency care and hospitalization treated? Sometimes you will find that emergency care and hospitalization are only be covered if pre-approved and you must fully understand the circumstances under which such 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. Are psychiatric services, psychotherapy or mental health services covered? Although a lot of medical plans will provide cover for mental illness in its various different form cover is frequently limited and you will normally find that there is a limit to the amount of cover provided.

Question 8. Is hospital, home health and nursing home care covered? Although most plans will offer reasonably good hospital cover you will have to look carefully at just what cover is provided for home health and nursing home 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 should form the basis on which you consider any medical insurance quote but you may want to include other items to your own list like how much paperwork is required when it comes to making a claim under the plan and how wide is your choice when it comes to hospitals, doctors and other treatment facilities. The main thing however is to make sure that you completely understand exactly what cover you are being provided with and how much it will cost before committing yourself to a plan.