If you are buying health insurance the details of your plan are very important and there several questions which you must ask. Merely looking at the premium which you are being asked to pay is not enough and you must look at various different things including any limitations, restrictions on where treatment can be done, exclusions, additional payments and fee requirements and one to two other things.

Here are a few very important questions which you should always ask whenever you are buying health insurance:

1. What out-of-pocket expenses and deductibles am I going to have to pay? The premiums are merely the beginning and the vast majority of plans require you to cover the cost of your bills up to a specified amount before your insurance plan kicks in. Thereafter, you will usually also have to make a payment towards the cost of each individual bill.

2. Are medical examinations and health screenings included in the plan? Look carefully to discover whether your plan includes cover for routine medical examinations including things like breast exams, mammograms and pap smears for women.

3. How are specialist care treatments and referrals handled? Look at the procedures you have to follow if you have to be referred for specialist treatment and whether there are special provisions for meeting the cost of specialist treatment.

4. What level of cover is provided for emergency care and hospitalization? {Take a good look to see whether you will need pre-approval for hospital or emergency treatment. It might seem strange but some plans will not permit you to seek emergency treatment without the pre-approval of a nominated physician.

5. What cover is provided for prescription drugs? Some plans limit the medications which can be prescribed often specifying that a list of generic drugs rather than brand name drugs must be prescribed. You should also look very carefully at what percentage of any cost which you will have to meet for drugs.

6. Is vision and dental care provided? Most plans do not provide cover for vision and dental care at all while some limit treatment to merely routine annual eye and dental checkups.

7. Is psychotherapy, psychiatry and other mental health care cover provided? Not all insurance plans will cover mental health care and where cover is provided you must look very carefully at just what cover is being offered.

8. Is hospital, nursing home and home care covered? It is very important to look at the extent to which cover is provided for care in hospital, in a nursing home or at home and whether there is a cap on your cover.

9. Is rehabilitation and physiotherapy cover given? Accident or illness frequently requires physiotherapy or rehabilitation and so it is important to see the extent to which such treatment is covered.

10. Is alternative treatment covered? As more and more of us are turning to alternative care such as the use of holistic treatments or acupuncture you need to check to see if these are covered if this is something which you want to make use of.

The premium which you will be paying for your health insurance plan is certainly very important but it is merely one small element of the overall package which you are buying.